Shiite Pilgrims Slaughtered
US losing Battle of Baghdad
Guerrillas on rooftops let loose barrages of machine gun fire at Shiite pilgrims on foot as the moved through northern Baghdad to the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kazim in Kadhimiyah on a pilgrimage to commemorate his martyrdom. They killed at least 20 and wounded an astonishing 300. Mind you that this happened when there are an extra 3500 US troops in the Sunni Arab areas of Baghdad conducting sweeps against guerrilla groups, and when everyone in Baghdad new full well that the Sunni Arab guerrillas would target the pilgrims. Vehicular traffic was just banned, so as to stop car bombings.
If this incident, which will inspire rage and reprisals by Shiites, can occur in the midst of an enormous crackdown in the battle for Baghdad, I fear the evidence is that that battle is already lost. What Shiites will willingly disarm after today? And if they don’t neither will the Sunni Arabs. The armed faction fighting will go on. The US appears powerless.