Blast at Shiite Shrine Sets Off Sectarian Fury in Iraq - New York Times

Blast at Shiite Shrine Sets Off Sectarian Fury in Iraq - New York Times

Good reporting here with significant background material that tries to illuminate the religious and historical context of this mess.

There's no way that American forces can control this sort of religious and sectarian anger and violence. If mosque guards are asleep in a the back room of a mosque they are assigned to protect and the Iraqi army refrains from stopping the violence, as reported in this piece, what hope can be found? If these people cannot establish law and order for themselves, we cannot do it for them. We cannot change the culture of violence religion-based violence.

The West simply does not understand the depth of religious animosity that has developed over the centuries between Shia and Sunni. I had commented on this in this blog at the time of the invasion.

Have we bit off more than we can chew? If so, we must rethink our strategy. America cannot police terrorist inspired havoc of this magnitude.