Comments on: Samarra: The Sequel

By: Profbacon

Profbacon — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:05:12 +0000

Thank you Elrod. However, â€œmillenerianâ€? has the Latin root mill, or thousand.

`the notion that some revered figure will return from the dead and will herald the beginning of peace on earth followed by the apocolypse` does have a word, MESSIANIC.

It makes sense, Islam is a spin off of Judism and Christianity. They have their own Messiah beliefs, and in troubling times those beliefs tend to form the bedrock of a people. After September 11, Church attendance spiked in America. I can only imagine the state of Religion in todays Iraq.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:06:51 +0000

What did anyone expect when the Iraqi’s were carrying out the execution? There wasn’t anything surprising about it at all, in fact I thought it much more restrained than I thought it would be. The society over there is essentially a mob waiting for the biggest religous thug to rise to the top and claim power. Its what they want. Efforts to reform Iraq into some modern style democracy that somehow keeps the religious extremists out of the loop strike me as wishful thinking at its worst.

By: Elrod

Elrod — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:54:31 +0000

Profbacon,
The term “millenarian” originally referred to the return of Jesus and the heralding of the 1000 year reign. Many religious movements developed in early 19th century America that claimed the precise moment when Jesus would return. The Seventh Day Adventists predicted in 1831 that the Millenium would arrive on October 13, 1843.

In Shi’ite Islam the term “millenerian” does not technically refer to 1000 years but it does resemble the notion that some revered figure will return from the dead and will herald the beginning of peace on earth followed by the apocolypse. For twelver Shi’ites, Mahdi is the man to return.

By: Profbacon

Profbacon — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 17:36:20 +0000

Good post but one issue.

Sadrâ€™s movement is driven by millenarian belief in the return of the Mahdi; thus the shrine was symbolically potent.

By millenarian belief, you mean once every 1000 years correct? By the Muslim calander 2006 was the year 1427. Unless millenarian means somethings else, a correction may be wise.

By: grognard

grognard — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:42:30 +0000

The execution resembled a lynch mob, and this is the reaction. Elrod is spot on, the symbolism is there and both sides are reacting. For me the way to measure the depth of the reaction will be to follow the reintegration of Baathists back into the military, if the program is halted then the majority Shiites will have signaled their intention to deal with the Sunnis through the militias. There will be a surge in troops, perhaps even be accelerated if the situation in Baghdad deteriorates quickly. The neighborhoods are becoming more predominantly Shiite or Sunni, that might keep tensions lower in that it is now easier to separate the parties. But with power, water, and other city services being reduced for Sunni areas the tensions will still be there waiting to surface as soon as we leave.

By: CStanley

CStanley — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:28:13 +0000

I’m not generally a conspiracist, but I can’t help but wonder if elements of the Shi’i govt didn’t allow the Samarra bombing precisely because it allowed their militant wing to gain power (for the reasons described by Elrod and Marc in comment above: it led the Iraqi people to turn to militias like Sad’r instead of the govt controlled security forces.) It makes sense when you think of how Sad’r has gained power since that event, and when you consider that this, the most holy site to the Shi’ites, was not being guarded by Sad’r. Perhaps the Iraqi forces that were “protecting” the site were in collusion.

As for the latest event, I agree that it doesn’t bode well but I’m not sure it matters that much anymore. It just doesn’t seem that the sectarian strife can be ratcheted any higher than it already has been.

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 06:12:31 +0000

So when are we going to punish the people who brought us this war? The people who said it would be easy, and cost about $60 Bill?

When have wars ever been easy, or played dead on command?

By: Marc Schulman

Marc Schulman — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:07:41 +0000

Elrod — I think there’s another factor: the Samarra bombing took place only about two months after the Iraqi election, which led to the fifth Iraqi government since the US invasion. The bombing showed that the new government, like its predecessors, couldn’t provide security, leading more Iraqis to turn to the Shi’a militias to provide protection.