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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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 Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:16 pm Post subject: Iraqi Cult Leader & 200 Others Massacred |
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Cult Leader & 200 Others Killed: Iraqi Officials
Mon Jan 29, 4:05 PM
By Khaled Farhan
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - The leader of a messianic Muslim cult was killed with 200 or more followers during a day-long onslaught by U.S. and Iraqi forces on their camp near the holy city of Najaf, Iraqi officials said on Monday.
They accused him of making a claiming to be the Mahdi, a messiah-like figure in Islam, and said his uniformed "Soldiers of Heaven" had planned to massacre top Shi'ite clerics during a major religious holiday on Monday and had to be stopped.
No account was available from the group targeted in one of the strangest episodes in four years of conflict
CONT'D ...
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/070129/world/international_iraq_dc |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:14 am Post subject: |
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From the Christian Science Monitor...
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The central Iraqi government says the fighters are members of a millenarian Shiite group called the Jund al-Sama, or Army of Heaven, and that they were plotting to kill the senior ayatollahs in Najaf, chief among them Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to prepare the way for the Mahdi, a messiah figure for many Shiites.
They believe the Mahdi ascended to heaven in the 9th century and will return to earth to usher in a final confrontation between good and evil that will end with a 1,000-year reign of peace, which will be followed by the end of the world.
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Local authorities said the gunmen were planning the attack because they believed the Mahdi was due to return Sunday, and were seeking to remove potential rivals.
"In Shiite Islam there is this very strong millenarian trend, similar to Christian movements that think Christ is about to return,'' says Juan Cole, a professor of Middle East history at the University of Michigan. "So just like some millenarian evangelicals think that the pope is the antichrist, they would see the ayatollahs as ... usurpers of his rightful role."
While Professor Cole is skeptical of the view that such millenarian movements are always triggered by social or economic upheaval, he says, "I'm comfortable in saying that in this particular case this movement that's fighting outside of Najaf is certainly enabled by the chaos in Iraq for the past decade and a half."
Such movements have ebbed and flowed throughout Shiite history and Shiite religious politics have been marked by violent power grabs for centuries. Cole points to the Babi Movement in the 1840s and 1850s in Iran and Iraq as a good example. The movement attracted vast numbers of followers, mostly from the urban lower and lower-middle classes, who believed that the Mahdi was about to return and rid them of their unjust rulers. The group's followers targeted the Shiite religious hierarchy of the time, and sought to assassinate the Shah of Iran in 1852.
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http://tinyurl.com/2hux9m |
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W.T.Carl
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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| It should read "defeated in open combat"- NOT murdered, shot down in cold blood ect. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| It should read "defeated in open combat"- NOT murdered, shot down in cold blood ect. |
Where does the article use the phrases "murdered" or "shot down in cold blood"? |
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Teufelswacht
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:39 am Post subject: |
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| Where does the article use the phrases "murdered" or "shot down in cold blood"? |
I think W.T. might be making an oblique reference to the word "massacred" in the title of this thread. I dunno. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:06 am Post subject: |
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| Teufelswacht wrote: |
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| Where does the article use the phrases "murdered" or "shot down in cold blood"? |
I think W.T. might be making an oblique reference to the word "massacred" in the title of this thread. I dunno. |
Ah, I see. Didn't really notice that.
Yes, I agree. "Massacred" kind of crosses the line into editorializing. Of course, if IGTG would like to tell us WHY he thinks it should be called a massacre, he's got the floor. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:13 am Post subject: |
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| Igotthisguitar is another tired, naive leftist on this board who holds America in contempt. Nothing mysterious about it. |
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twg
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Location: Getting some fresh air...
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:40 am Post subject: |
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| Lucky for him you hate all of that rude labeling instead of discussing the points so much that you'd never consider doing it yourself, huh Steve-o? |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Teufelswacht wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Where does the article use the phrases "murdered" or "shot down in cold blood"? |
I think W.T. might be making an oblique reference to the word "massacred" in the title of this thread. I dunno. |
Yeah I noticed that change too. Massacred is a weird word choice. IGTG, do you feel these people were killed unjustly? |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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| He died? I guess he wasnt a messiah, eh? That should teach him not to make wild claims. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| jinju wrote: |
| He died? I guess he wasnt a messiah, eh? That should teach him not to make wild claims. |
He didn't need to die for me to know that messiah's don't exist. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Hollywoodaction wrote: |
| jinju wrote: |
| He died? I guess he wasnt a messiah, eh? That should teach him not to make wild claims. |
He didn't need to die for me to know that messiah's don't exist. |
He neded to die for being a liar and a fraud. And for being stupid. When you make wildclaims like this you have to know the Cosmos (God, Allah, whatever) will test you.
"Messiah eh? Heres a bullet in yur head that says otherwise".
And really, whats the big deal? The world now has one less cult leader. Thats a GOOD thing. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:09 pm Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| Teufelswacht wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Where does the article use the phrases "murdered" or "shot down in cold blood"? |
I think W.T. might be making an oblique reference to the word "massacred" in the title of this thread. I dunno. |
Yeah I noticed that change too. Massacred is a weird word choice. IGTG, do you feel these people were killed unjustly? |
According to this article, they may well have been: US "Victory" Against Cult Leader was a Massacre
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There are growing suspicions in Iraq that the official story of the battle outside Najaf between a messianic Iraqi cult and the Iraqi security forces supported by the US, in which 263 people were killed and 210 wounded, is a fabrication. The heavy casualties may be evidence of an unpremeditated massacre.
A picture is beginning to emerge of a clash between an Iraqi Shia tribe on a pilgrimage to Najaf and an Iraqi army checkpoint that led the US to intervene with devastating effect. The involvement of Ahmed al-Hassani (also known as Abu Kamar), who believed himself to be the coming Mahdi, or Messiah, appears to have been accidental.
The story emerging on independent Iraqi websites and in Arabic newspapers is entirely different from the government's account of the battle with the so-called "Soldiers of Heaven", planning a raid on Najaf to kill Shia religious leaders.
The cult denied it was involved in the fighting, saying it was a peaceful movement. The incident reportedly began when a procession of 200 pilgrims was on its way, on foot, to celebrate Ashura in Najaf. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| had any Al Qaeda friends in that cult, Big Bird? A dead messiah..looks like he wasnt much of a messiah. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| jinju wrote: |
| had any Al Qaeda friends in that cult, Big Bird? |
With your aggressive macho attitude, they'd be more inclined to hang with you. |
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