Posted on 01/12/2009 11:04:21 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
(Ali Abu Shish/Reuters)
Najaf's holy status is tied to the shrine of Imam Ali. Last year 1.5 million Iranian pilgrims visited the Iraqi city
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The first flight from Iran in three decades landed in Iraq's holy city of Najaf today, resurrecting a direct link between the world's two major Shia communities.
Passengers from Tehran arrived at a brand-new airport, a symbol of Iraq's rebirth and a gateway for 3 million Iranian Shia pilgrims planning to visit Najaf this year, hoping to overcome tensions going back to the Iran-Iraq War.
But old enmity dies hard. Iran is viewed with increasing suspicion by Iraqis and may now be as unpopular as America after years of sponsoring insurgent groups.
Politicians, clerics and ordinary residents in Najaf — traditionally a pro-Tehran city — expressed to The Times an almost visceral fear of Iranian influence. As violence ebbs, such fears are replacing divisions over American influence as a core political issue and signal the rise of Arab nationalism in Iraq.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
fyi
Stupid slimebag Democrats (that's what I call the media now) just had to get that in. As usual, it's a load. We are like by countless more Iraqis than we are disliked by same.
And the Democrats who wrote this article fail to mention that the main reason Iraqis are more worried about Iran is because of Barack Hussein Obama. They don't trust him to protect Iraq's interests.
The British Media is as Bad as our American media....
Dang, I've been typing worse than usual all day.
Let me see 3 X 1.8 + 32 = 5.4 =32 = 39.4 Fahrenheit .....Very chilly....
Highs I think of 25 Centigrade...would be 25 x 1.8=45 + 32 =77 degrees Fahrenheit .....nice.
Well,....guess the News is over....not sure what they are doing now......
It was below freezing this morning when I got up and not much warmer when I was showered and dressed and ready to walk to work. I did not want to walk out that door.
Now, it's nighttime and I have the heater in my room cranked. LOL
Oh, yeah, that makes me a lot calmer, knowing there are Moslems aboard airliners.
Thanks Ernest.
Good points Allegra. And as usual all those folks sitting around the kitchen table and elsewhere reading their news paper op eds, get mostly ill-informed opinions from the L/MSM and believe they are getting a balanced view.
They’ll probably regret the day they asked us to leave.
I thought most of the Iraqi Shiites were on our side, except for the Mookie Monster and his followers.
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