by Gouda » Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:10 pm
Good point. And I see those are non-U.S. news outlets. U.S.-based corporate coverage of this bombing reminds me of the Katrina distortions and demonizations perpetrated by the U.S. media and its mouthpieces. Then too, there was scarce coverage of regular people banding up in mutual support - only the viewer-friendly horrorshow, the black bandits, the "anarchy." In fact, many instances of a more genuine form of anarchy arose, which was under-reported: cells of self-organized people working together, helping each other, despite total government abandonment and malfeasance. <br><br>Here is C(IA)NN's latest "sectarian violence" version - note the difference in coverage: <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/24/iraq.main/index.html">edition.cnn.com/2006/WORL...index.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Iraq under curfew to quell sectarian violence - Officials urge end to revenge attacks after mosque bombing</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>With sectarian violence intensifying nationwide</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->, Iraqi authorities extended a curfew in Baghdad and two neighboring provinces into Friday to try to calm tensions in the wake of Wednesday's bombing of Shiite Islam's third-holiest shrine.<br><br>The bombing of the mosque in Samarra has sparked dozens of attacks on Sunni institutions, resulting in the killing of clerics, worshippers and bystanders. By late Thursday, authorities said more than 132 people had been killed in the violence. That toll included 87 bodies found in Baghdad alone.<br><br>The curfew, which bars the movement of vehicles but not people, could stir even more controversy because it will remain in effect through Friday's noon Muslim prayers -- the most sacred prayers of the week for followers. The curfew ends at 4 p.m. Friday.<br><br>In addition to Baghdad, the curfew covers Salaheddin and Diyala provinces.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>In Samarra on Thursday, thousands of enraged Shia Muslims gathered at the bombed-out Al-Askariya Mosque and called for revenge. Among those taking part in the protests were followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia has been reported going door-to-door in Sunni areas asking for heads of households.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <br><br>President Jalal Talabani urged Iraqis be calm.<br><br>"If the flames of division get enraged, God forbid, they won't help anyone," Talibani said. "No one will be spared. Putting those flames out is a sacred duty of all Iraqis and a must in order to achieve a unified democratic Iraq."<br><br>Witnesses of Wednesday's attack on the shrine said armed men dressed as police commandos stormed the site, bound the guards and detonated their bombs -- an act that U.S. officials said bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda and wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.<br><br>"It's clearly the signature of Zarqawi and terrorists and foreign fighters," U.S. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters in Baghdad.<br><br>President Bush has condemned the bombing as the work not of a religious person "but an evil person."<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Iraqis' response to the attack has raised concern that the country could slip into civil war. </strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>"I don't think we're anywhere near that, but ... neither do I think we can sit back and suggest that it couldn't happen," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a former U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said in Washington.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>John McLaughlin, the former deputy director of the CIA, said another attack in the next few days could push Iraq toward civil war.<br><br>"Something like further attacks on other Shia sites, the assassination of a major Shia figure, something like that could take this to another level," said McLaughlin, now a CNN analyst.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>On the ground in Iraq, the nation seemed to be struggling to stay together as the divisions between Shias and Sunnis -- from clerics to politicians to ordinary citizens -- appeared to be widening.<br><br>Iraq's largest Sunni political bloc suspended all negotiations with the Kurds and Shia on the formation of a new government after it said the country's Shia leaders had failed to condemn the reprisal attacks.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>In the city of Baquba, Sunni men could be seen crying in the streets after reprisal attacks were carried out there.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Meanwhile, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most powerful Shiite cleric, called on Iraqis themselves to prevent attacks against shrines.<br><br>"If its security forces are not able to secure these sites, then the believers are capable to do so with the help of Allah," he said.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Al-Sistani asked believers to express their sorrow and condemnations of the Samarra bombing peacefully. But his comments sparked indirect and unusually strong criticism from a group of angry Sunni clerics over the revenge attacks.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>"We point the finger of blame at certain Shiite religious authorities calling for demonstrations while they know Iraq cannot control the streets," said Sheik Abdul Salam al-Qubaisi.<br><br>There were isolated signs of unity Thursday. In the southern city of Kut, tens of thousands of Sunnis and Shias joined together, carrying the Iraqi flag and finding a common foe -- they chanted "No to America!"<br>Other developments<br><br># On Friday, coalition forces and Iraqi police conducted a raid in the capital, killing Abu Asma, whom they described as the al Qaeda military emir of northern Baghdad. The man, an explosives expert, had suicide vests and was responsible for "many deaths and injuries" of security forces, the military said in a written statement.<br><br># While reporting on the Samarra attack, three journalists for Al-Arabiya television, including a female correspondent, were kidnapped and killed, police and the Arabic-language channel said. (Full story)<br><br># An explosion Thursday killed 16 people and wounded 20 others in Baquba. Five people were killed and 10 others were wounded in another Baquba blast that's suspected of being a suicide bombing.<br><br># The U.S. military said Thursday that "about 95 male detainees were released" during the past several days. The Iraqi-led Combined Review and Release Board has reviewed the cases of "more than 28,500 detainees" and recommended release for more than 14,900 of them.<br><br># Also Thursday, ABC News reported that photographer Doug Vogt has been discharged from a hospital and anchor Bob Woodruff is making "good progress" nearly a month after they were seriously wounded by a roadside bomb.<br><br>CNN's Aneesh Raman, Barbara Starr and David Ensor contributed to this report. <hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>