Iraq unraveling as top Shiite cleric issues call to arms

McClatchy ^ | June 13, 2014 | Mitchell Prothero

[GonzoII]

ISTANBUL — The likely breakup of Iraq into feuding ethnic and sectarian bastions accelerated Friday as Iraq’s senior Shiite Muslim cleric broke years of support for the central government and decreed that every able-bodied Shiite man had a religious obligation to defend the sect’s holy sites from rebellious Sunni Muslims led by fighters from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

In answer to the call, thousands of Shiites many with militia experience from the sectarian war that pitted Sunnis against Shiites and killed thousands from 2006 to 2008 flooded the cities of Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala to receive weapons, enlist in organized units and receive their orders.

[FourPeas]

While they focus on killing one another, they’re not trying to kill us. They are, however, driving up the price of oil and benefiting the Kurds who seem to be a big winner in the whole unrest.

[catnipman]

“Wonder if there is a map than shows which of the camel jockey countries are which sect? Would make it easier to keep score.”

Seems like there’s a nice pinball game that could be made from this.

[Sola Veritas]

“I predict that the entire area will devolve back into tribal areas of influence and that Iraq and Iran will effectively cease to be nation states.”

Iraq probably will cease to have the borders it does today, and may change names. However, Iran is benefiting from this war. They are using their “Shia” version of Islam to justify going into Iraq to “help.” If they go in, they will NEVER go out again. A great portion of Iraq will become part of Iran - at least a “vassal” state to Iran.

[Candor7]

top Shiite cleric issues call to arms
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hallah harabeem j’allah allllahuahoowaaakbur!

Towahellhead gathathrakarther alakawakalllakbur!

Takehoallahtaammo Ja’allah Inshalla Hualllah Allahakbur!

[RipSawyer]

WELL, here is my reply to that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPiNu6073s4

[X-spurt]

Thanks!

This is why I don’t think Western Civilizations will never have to genuinely worry about the muslims, they are hardwired to hate each other more than anyone else. They are truly a hate filled culture and because of their never ending focus on hate, they are destined to stay that way as in the 8th Century.

The only times they pose significant threats to us, is when they have the ability to travel outside their realm though (this time) oil money.

[TigersEye]

Aloha snackbar!!! Allahwashamaballa!

[Grampa Dave]

The citizens of Iraq should be getting a severe wake up call from the serial killer ISIS thugs.

Warning this link is very graphic. It shows the ISIS serial killers slaughtering unarmed prisoners.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3167998/posts

[gleeaikin]

This language map is some help, but a lot of Sunnis, Shiites, Alawis, etc. speak Arabic.

[sefarkas]

The Chinese have about 30 dialects that occasionally share the same the same written character/pictograph, but there is no one spoken language in China, although all of them are referred to as "Chinese". You do not see the Chinese fighting amongst themselves to the same (wildly publicized) degree as the Sunni/Shia folks. Iranian Shia are Persian, not Arab ethnically. The Iran/Iraq war showed ethnicity was more significant than language or religion when it came to choosing sides and declaring loyalty.

Some of the spoken varieties are mutually unintelligible,[4] both written and orally, and the varieties as a whole constitute a sociolinguistic language. This means that on purely linguistic grounds they would likely be considered to constitute more than one language, but are commonly grouped together as a single language for political and/or religious reasons (see below). If considered multiple languages, it is unclear how many languages there would be, as the spoken varieties form a dialect chain with no clear boundaries. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language#Arabic_and_Islam

[gleeaikin]

Nice map, thanks. The history of China has included periods of a great deal of fighting amongst themselves. On the other hand China has been civilized and organized twice as long as some parts of the Arab world. I am excluding Egypt, Persia and Babalon from that statement. I agree tha Iran/Iraq war had a strong ethnic element, however, Sunni Saudis and the Sunni rulers of Barain(sp?) are facing significan Shia communities within their own border who are supported by Iran. There is a whole lot of religious mischief everywhere. If you ever have a chance to read T.E. Lawrence’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” there is an excellent few pages on a cross section of Lebanon’s diversity.

[Candor7]

Yes, we are developing a tango Arabic / English interlanguage.LOL.

Aloha Snackbar got me to giggling!

[Candor7]

Rip! Lost a few stiches laughing at that vid.
“Now we don our gay apparel!”/s

This is about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JHMxNb2BAE

[RipSawyer]

That was certainly enlightening. Justice demands that in response I offer the complete lyrics to the song that is only partially rendered in the video I posted. It is of course the creation of the incomparable Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo Possum, Albert the Alligator and all the other swamp residents. Here are the complete lyrics, I recommend singing this at Christmas gatherings at the top of your voice at any time you want to be alone.

Deck Us All With Boston Charlie

Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo!
Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!

Don’t we know archaic barrel
Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don’t love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!

Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Polly wolly cracker ‘n’ too-da-loo!
Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
Antelope Cantaloupe, ‘lope with you!

Hunky Dory’s pop is lolly,
Gaggin’ on the wagon, Willy, folly go through!
Chollie’s collie barks at Barrow,
Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo!

Dunk us all in bowls of barley,
Hinky dinky dink an’ polly voo!
Chilly Filly’s name is Chollie,
Chollie Filly’s jolly chilly view halloo!

Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof!
Tizzy seas on melon collie!
Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof!

At any time the above lyrics seem in any way nonsensical and meaningless I advise spending several hours watching MSNBC and or videos of Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama etc. and I guarantee that when you revisit “Deck Us All” you will suddenly discover all kinds of meaning in it.

May the force be with you against the farce.

[TigersEye]

I remember that! I think I may have driven my parents close to the brink singing that. Later there would be Mad Magazine parody songs that pushed them past the brink. To this day my sister still remembers the words to Ground Round. Someone has thoughtfully posted them on the internets...

Ground Round (Sung to the tune of Petula Clark's Downtown)

When you eat meat
and hate the meat that you're eating
you have surely got...
Ground Round!

It's so unnerving
when they're constantly serving
in an eating spot...
Ground Round!

It may be called
a chopped steak, Salisbury,
or beef patty.
No matter what it's called
it's always overcooked and fatty.
What can you do?

Call out to your waiter there,
beat down on your table
stand up on your chair
and say

Ground Round!
piled on my plate I see
Ground Round!
you're always conning me!
Ground Round!
Why does it have to be
Ground Round...
Ground Round...
Ground Round...[fade out]