Informed Comment

24 Killed,90 wounded;
Qadiriya Shrine Damaged in Blast

Reuters reports that 33 bodies were found in the streets of Baghdad on Monday. Karrada took mortar fire, which left 8 dead and 35 wounded. McClatchy reports that on Sunday night, guerrillas had taken 40 persons hostage in Salahuddin Province, in a bid to counter the operation of a new anti-Salafi tribal council. There were other bombings, shootings and assorted mayhem in Baghdad, Mosul and some other places.

But one above all took the cake. Guerrillas detonated a huge bomb in front of the shrine of Abdul Qadir al-Gilani (Jilani, Kilani) in central Baghdad on Monday, killing (according to Reuters, above) some 24 persons and wounding 90 according to late reports. The bombing damaged the dome and the base of the minaret of the mosque attached to the shrine.

Shaikh Abdul Qadir al-Gilani (d. 1166 A.D.) was a great mystic who founded the vast Qadiriya Sufi order.

An Ottoman mystic, Shaikh Muzaffer Ozak Efendi, later wrote of him,

‘ “The venerable ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani passed on to the Realm of Divine Beauty in A.H. 561/ 1166 C.E., and his blessed mausoleum in Baghdaad is still a place of pious visitation. He is noted for his extraordinary spiritual experiences and exploits, as well as his memorable sayings and wise teachings. It is rightly said of him that ‘he was born in love, grew in perfection, and met his Lord in the perfection of love.’ May the All-Glorious Lord bring us in contact with his lofty spiritual influence!” ‘

The Qadiri Sufi order is very important in Iraq, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Turkey, Pakistan and India, among other places.

The shrine was likely attacked by radical Sunni Salafis, with several objects in mind. First, Salafis hate Sufi shrines (see below). Second, the Salafi Jihadis in Iraq are trying to mobilize all Iraqi Sunnis behind them, and do not want rivals from among the Sufi orders and tribal shaikhs. Third, the Salafi Jihadis want to throw Iraq into ever greater chaos, such that they strike at all national symbols. Fourth, they are probably hoping that at least some Sunni Arabs will blame Shiite militiamen for the attack, or will blame the Shiite government for not preventing it, so that the bombing has the effect of heightening sectarian tensions further. The guerrilla attack on the Shiite Askariya Shrine in Samarra in February, 2006, set off an orgy of sectarian violence, and was the most successful single act of terrorism the guerrillas have ever carried out.

One saving grace is that Sufis are oriented toward symbolic meaning, and physical places are therefore not central to their worship. One famous medieval Sufi, al-Hallaj, famously thought that it was better to visit God in your heart truly than to undertake a perfunctory pilgrimage to Mecca. (The orthodox were outraged.) It is a little unlikely, therefore, that there will be a backlash from this bombing in Nigeria or Senegal or India. For Iraqi Sunnis, likewise, it seems a little unlikely to produce further violence, since the imam himself blamed the radical Salafis (takfiris), themselves Sunni.

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Muhammad al-Isawi, the prayer leader and preacher at the mosque attached to the shrine, said, “I send condolences not only to myself but to all Iraqis for what befell this mosque for everyone, for Sunni and Shiite, for Turkmen and Kurd. Who venefits from blowing it up? We must be patient and resigned and deny any opportunity to the enemies, the Takfiri terrorists.” [Takfiris are radical Salafis who declare Sufis and other non-Salafis to be non-Muslims and deserving of death.] He added, “They have idled the charitable works in the mosque, which provides food to widows, orphans and the needy; it also contains a library, to which seekers after knowledge resort. It was, truly, a cowardly act.”

There are lots of strands of Sunni Islam. Many of them are better thought of as tendencies than as sects in their own right. If we make an analogy to Christianity, so there are scriptural literalists (fundamentalists), and there are mystics seeking union with God, and there is everything in between.

The mystics organized into orders or brotherhoods (tariqa) are called Sufis. (The etymology of ‘Sufi’ is disputed. Some say it refers to the early mystics’ preference for woollen (suf) cloaks. Others say it is derived from the Greek Sophia or wisdom.) The mystics typically get together on a Thursday night (or other occasion) at the mosque and sit in a circle and chant spiritual verses and listen to the teachings of their spiritual master or shaikh (in Persian, pir). Some Sufi meetings, with their chanting and rhythmic dancing, resemble Pentacostal services in Christianity. When the shaikh died, often a shrine grew up around his tomb, which was thought a center of blessings and people would come there to touch it and be cured of infertility and other woes.

Sufism was so successful as an organized movement from about the 1100s that it took over Islam, and there were very few Muslims who were not in some sense Sufis in the period 1200 through about 1850. From the mid-1700s, Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab in Arabia began attacking Sufism. The attacks were taken up and refined by the Salafis (revivalists) of the late 19th and early 20th century. It began being argued, under Wahhabi and Salafi influence, that it was wrong to attend at shrines, wrong to seek the intercession of saints, wrong to chant and to dance for God. Modern Wahhabism (mostly a Saudi Arabian phenomenon) and Salafism (much more widespread) have a “Protestant” character to them, emphasizing puritanism and the casting down of all images (iconoclasm) and saints’ shrines.

Sufism has rapidly declined in much of the Muslim world. The Sufi orders still have a central place in society and even politics in Senegal. The Sufis of Morocco are not inconsiderable. But they no longer are in the mainstream in Egypt and are minor affairs in Palestine, Syria and Jordan. The Sufis of the Hijaz in western Arabia are said to be having a bit of a revival, but Wahhabism has reduced them to a shadow of their former selves. Aside from Morocco, Iraq may have been the Arab country with the biggest Sufi presence, both among Sunni Arabs and among Kurds (a lot of Kurds in Iraq, Iran and Turkey are Sufis and some are Qadiris).

Some of the Sufi orders, including branches of the Qadiriya, have at one time or another joined the Sunni Arab insurgency (a major guerrilla leader at Falluja was a Qadiri shaikh). Other branches of the Qadiriya have, however, been quietists and avoided politics (the shrine keeper is in that category, another reason that the shrine may have been hit).

There is a whole web site on al-Gilani and his order by an adherent.

Posted in Iraq | Comments Off

Embassy Memo Flap and the Decline of the Right Blogosphere

Glenn Greenwald and Iraqslogger on that memo about food shortages at the US embassy in Baghdad (which have ended for the moment).

The right blogosphere went crazy about this little memo and its authenticity. Uh, guys, I like State Department folks fine (certainly better than you do), but even they would admit that there are bigger issues than what choices they get at the cafeteria. Like for instance the mortar fire landing in the Green Zone or the bombing of the Abdul Qadir al-Jilani Sufi shrine on Monday that might well set off sectarian violence. The memo was not a big deal one way or another.

And as for the invocation of Dan Rather, why don’t they look into Doug Feith’s Office of Special Plans at the Pentagon if they want to look into fraudulent documents.

There was a guy named Curveball, who was far more important than Dan Rather because he helped get us into this quagmire of a war. Then there was the Niger forgery. So many rightwing forgeries, so little investigation by those with little green feet and balls.

Posted in Iraq | Comments Off

Memorial Day, 2007

A couple of months ago I was at Detroit Metro and two very young soldiers timidly approached me. They were changing planes there, but the airport deeply confused them. When and where was their flight? Their brows knitted beneath extreme crewcuts (they were the victims of an overenthusiastic army barber of a sort I well recollect). Did they have to pick up their luggage and get it on the new flight? I asked one to show me his ticket, then took him over to the screen at the terminal and showed him how to read it. They had about 20 minutes, though their gate was a good distance away.

I found the luggage sticker on the back of the ticket and showed the young man (my son’s age) that it was marked with his final destination– it had been checked through. They both seemed enormously relieved, and the anxiety drained away. They stood a little straighter in their khakis. I figured it was their first time flying a civilian airliner with a plane change.

They thanked me and shook my hand. I said, no, thank you for your service.

One looked up. “It’s just a job, sir,” he observed before heading off.

It is just a job. But it isn’t. It is about the nation in a way that most jobs are not. It is about life and death in a way that most jobs are not. It is a heavy responsibility both for the “employee” and for the “employer” (i.e. for you and me).

There are lots of stories of heroism and tragedy to be told on this Memorial Day. You have to read the local newspapers, usually, to hear about them.

AP reported on May 27, on the funeral held on a gray, rainy day in Tipton, Iowa for Specialist David Behrle, age 20. An Iraqi guerrilla detonated a roadside bomb under his vehicle on May 19:

‘ The body of Behrle, who was 20, arrived in his hometown yesterday morning. Hundreds of supporters stood at attention despite heavy rains. Patriot Guard members accompanied the hearse, which was equipped with an Army seal on the side, to Fry Funeral Home in Tipton.

More than 300 American flags were donated by local businesses. They were distributed to the crowd before the hearse arrived.’

And there was this, closer to home for me, from Mike Wilkinson of the Detroit News. Casey Zylman was 23, from the small town of Coleman, Michigan, about 120 miles northeast of Detroit. He briefly went to Northwood University in Midland, but perhaps dropped out for lack of funds. His football coach, Joe Albaugh, said he thought Casey was planning to use the GI bill to pay for his college when he got out. He wanted to be an accountant. Wilkinson writes:

‘ COLEMAN, Mich. — Casey Zylman was the kind of student others looked up to, a leader and athlete who cared about his fellow students. For his teammates, he was a motivator. “He wouldn’t let you quit,” said Joe Albaugh, the football coach at Coleman High School, where Casey graduated in 2003. He was an all-conference offensive lineman his senior year. . .

Zylman also played baseball at Coleman High, where he graduated with fewer than 100 others. He held a position on the executive committee of the student council. Mary Pitchford, who was principal at Coleman Middle School when he was a student, remembers Zylman. “He was just kind, caring, polite,” she told The Detroit News on Friday.
. . “Coleman is a very small community,” Pitchford said. “I’m sure there is great sadness, especially for Casey’s family.” ‘

It isn’t about politics, today. They served our country, they gave us everything; they had nothing left to give after that. The press makes no mention of their girlfriends, their brothers and sisters, the people now less whole than they were. There was a downpour at David Behrle’s funeral. Three hundred American flags were passed out in the rain. People stood at attention, dripping wet. He was 20. Casey Zylman, 23 was a motivator. He wouldn’t let his team mates on the gridiron quit. He wanted to go to college, to be an accountant, but maybe needed money for tuition and so joined the military. His audits would have been thorough, upright. They did their job.

Our job as the citizens of a democratic Republic is to ensure that we only ask them to risk everything (everything) when our Republic is genuinely in danger. Not for any other reason. They did their jobs. “It’s just a job, sir.” Have we done ours?

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

10 US GIs Killed
44 Bodies in Baghdad
Al-Shamari Informs on Sadrists, Flees to US

Iraq had another bloody Sunday yesterday, with the US military announcing the killing of 10 US GIs.

Since last Memorial Day, nearly 1,000 US troops have died in Iraq.

Reuters reports that 44 bodies were discovered in the streets of Baghdad on Sunday, the highest number I can remember since the surge began. Reuters reports other civil war violence, including a grenade attack by guerrillas on Shorja Market in central Baghdad, which killed 2 persons and wounded 9 others. That is the market that John McCain visited with such great fanfare not so long ago. Other violence:

‘ BAGHDAD – Gunmen killed two people and wounded eight in the Bab al-Muadham area of central Baghdad, police said. . .

JURF AL-SAKHAR – A car bomb targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint killed two soldiers and wounded three near Jurf al-Sakhar, 85 km (53 miles) south of Baghdad. . .

NAHRAWAN – Gunmen killed two farmers and wounded nine others in a drive-by shooting in Nahrawan, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. . .

BASRA – British forces killed three militants during a raid in Basra against those behind a complex attack involving roadside bombs . . .’

McClatchy adds that “In a marketplace in Ramadi a car bomb Sunday killed seven and injured 12.”

Also, in Mosul, “Sunday morning, a car bomb explosion killed one person and injured five others in the Al-Dhubat neighborhood.”

US troops in Diyala found and freed 41 captives of Salafi Jihadi radicals.

Al-Zaman makes the explosive [and uncorroborated] charge that former minister of health Ali al-Shamari, a member of the Sadr Movement, has successfully sought asylum in the United States in return for providing extensive intelligence on the Mahdi Army. He is said to have gotten on an American plane and flown to this country. Al-Zaman alleges that he provided the US military with details of Iranian funding of the Mahdi Army, of its links to the Revolutionary Guards, with the identities of many heretofore undercover commanders, and with the locations of the safe houses its commanders use for meetings. (Note that al-Shamari had broken with Sadr and wanted to go to the US, so that it is difficult to know how seriously to take his allegations; he may have said what he thought Washington wanted to hear).

The US began cracking down on the Sadrist-dominated Health Ministry last February, at a time when it was alleged that Sadr was running death squads out of it.

Young Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr held a meeting with major figures in his political party on Sunday to plan out a major change in the organization and “public face” of his movement. Its reputation has been besmirched by allegations that its paramilitary, the Mahdi Army, has engaged in death squad killings of Sunni Arabs.

Al-Zaman also says that the National Iraqi List of Iyad Allawi has decided against withdrawing from the al-Maliki national unity government for now.

It also reports that the Sadrists are claiming that some death squad activity against Sunnis in Baghdad is actually carried out by the Badr Corps of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, and then falsely attributed to the Sadrists.

Posted in Iraq | Comments Off

8 US GIs Killed
US Bombs Sadr City

The US military announced the killing of 8 US GIs on Saturday. The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, visited al-Anbar Province in the company of US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, to highlight the increased security in the province since Sunni Arab tribal chieftains begain allying against extremist Salafis. Gen. Petraeus, always a straight shooter, underlined that al-Anbar is still “not paradise.” [And right he is. Falluja is very dangerous and there is violence all over the province, and the Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs say that they are getting the radical Salafis out of the way so as to get a clearer shot at the al-Maliki government.)

The problems the US faces in standing up the Iraqi army are underlined by the arrest of Gen. Shakir Halil al-Kaabi, the commander of the 5th Division in Diyala Province. He is charged with being careless of prisoners from the Shiite militias, or of actively collaborating with them.

The US military raided Sadr City on Saturday and arrested a Mahdi Army commander whom they accused of being involved with smuggling weapons from Iran. The arrest provoked clashes, and the army called in air strikes on JAM positions, killing 5 persons. Bombing a city you militarily occupy is probably illegal in international law.

Reuters reports that police found about 20 bodies in Baghdad on Saturday. Other major civil war violence:

‘ BAGHDAD – At least five people were killed and 37 were wounded when a car bomb and several mortar rounds exploded in a crowded market of Baghdad’s Shi’ite Bayaa district, police said. . .

DIWANIYA – Gunmen killed three off-duty Iraqi soldiers in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniya on Friday, police said. . .

KUT – Iraqi and Polish forces killed four Mehdi Army militiamen and detained 20 others in the small town of Jihad, 80 km (50 miles) west of Kut, police said. . .

Also, a car bomber blew up an Iraqi army checkpoint in Ghazaliya, Baghdad, killing 2 soldiers and injuring 11 others.

Guerrillas sprayed a police checkpoint in al-Ria, southwestern Baghdad, with machine gun fire, killing 3 policemen and wounding 6.

The National Iraqi List had its party conference the past few days in Amman. Led by former appointed prime minister, Iyad Allawi, this list has 25 seats in parliament and most of its members are secular middle class Shiites, though it has some Sunni Arabs, as well. The list had been attempting to put together a new parliamentary bloc grouping the Islamic Virtue Party (Fadhila: Shiite fundamentalist), the Iraqi Accord Front (Sunni fundamentalist), and the National Dialogue Front (Sunni secular). Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the effort has been postponed because Iraqi National List members objected to joining forces with Adnan Dulaimi, Mishaan Juburi, and Salih Mutlak, three Sunni Arab leaders. Judge Abdul Latif al-Waili is quoted as saying that the list has not yet decided whether to leave the national unity government of PM Nuri al-Maliki.

The National Iraqi List’s failure so far to form a new coalition is good news for al-Maliki, who has looked increasingly vulnerable to being unseated in a vote of no confidence. The Iraqi constitution specifies that the largest bloc in parliament is asked first to form a government by the president. A coalition of Allawi’s list with Virtue and the Sunnis would have had 98 members, more than the United Iraqi Alliance could claim if the Sadr Movement (32 members) declined to support al-Maliki (the movement has already pulled out of the national unity government). As it is, the National Iraqi list apparently has little hope of getting along with the Sunni Arabs. And, the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance is attempting to entice the Virtue Party back in, having unseated it in Basra Province just to show that there are disadvantages to bucking the big coalition.

Iran wants to develop joint oil fields with Iraq.

Posted in Iraq | Comments Off