Americans bow before holy shrine to deter protesters [Yesterday at Najaf, Iraq]

UK Telegragh ^ | April 4, 2003

[george wythe]

American soldiers retreated warily from the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf yesterday after a furious crowd gathered around them to stop foreign soldiers from approaching one of the holiest shrines of Shia Islam.

"Everybody smile!" shouted the platoon commander as he told his baffled men to kneel down and point their weapons at the ground, in a surreal act of submission.

The mightiest army in the world is learning the hard way the awkward art of trying to "win the hearts and minds" of suspicious civilians.

In other cities civilians have largely been bystanders in the military drama, neither rising up to cheer nor uniting to resist.

But in Najaf, hundreds poured into the streets to block the way of American soldiers as they came within sight of the golden dome of the mosque. They waved the soldiers away as some explained in broken English: "In the city, OK. In the mosque, No!"

The mosque is the reputed burial place of Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam and the first Imam of Shia Islam.

It was damaged by Iraqi forces during the Shi'ite uprising against Saddam Hussein at the end of the 1991 Gulf war. But despite any hatred Najaf's people may harbour for Saddam, they seem resolutely opposed to having "infidel" soldiers violating the holy ground.

Nevertheless, the city's religious authorities seem to be reaching an accommodation with the occupying forces.

According to a US commander in the Gulf, Brig-Gen Vincent Brooks, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric in Najaf has issued a religious edict urging Iraqis to remain calm and not to hinder American forces.

Across Najaf, American forces searched buildings for Fedayeen paramilitary fighters loyal to Saddam.

US officers said most of the Fedayeen forces had simply dropped their equipment and fled, but some were still putting up a fight.

[george wythe]

pes·si·mism :

A tendency to stress the negative or unfavorable or to take the gloomiest possible view: “We have seen too much defeatism, too much pessimism, too much of a negative approach” (Margo Jones).

[Darheel]

The problem is that the WTC and the Pentagon are now 'holy ground' for these lunatics too. It's called jihad, and our soldiers could get killed now, or later, or both, but one thing is sure: jihad has been ongoing for 1300 years and will not stop until what we call the West submits to their god. It sickens me to see our troops bow to this false god, if that is truly what has happened here; if not then it is a neutral event, not disgraceful but certainly not heroic, imo.

[nanny]

Of course, I am wrong - surely I must be -

I said I wasn't there and shouldn't second guess - actually, you see - none of us were there. We are sitting here behind our Made in China computers and commenting. Which actually makes any comment as good as another.

I still don't like the picture it puts in my mind.

[nanny]

AS I said, none of us were there - so do we know the headline was a lie. I was commenting what was in the article - you realize none of us were there, don't you? I only comment on what is written - I don't rewrite or interpret them.

[KriegerGeist]

"But when we control Iraq, we will need to search every mosque (school, hospital...) in the country for weapons."

Dearborn Michigan, for just one city is full of Iraqi exiles. Send them back (and they are wiling and chomping at the bit) to search out those places dressed in their white shirts and dish-towel head dress as anti-Saddam, but "non-infidel" weapons inspectors....this time with no "minders" to keep them out or to divert them.

[bert]

Your bias is showing.

The crowd was fearful that one of the most sacred and architecturally beautiful places in all Islam was to be desecrated. They went in the streets unarmed to face troops armed to the teeth and known to be capable of dealing fearful vengence. The crowd had its adreneline up but be that as it may, they bravely faced the most awsome army there is.

There is no holy place in America as sacred as the mosque being defended

Would you have the courage to stand in the street in front of the Capitol building or the White House in front of such force?. .

[Hila]

What was that kneeling all about? No way!

[k2blader]

I hope they are just as resolutely opposed to having Fedayeen soldiers violating the holy ground.

[bert]

You should read a little more and think a little less. Your knowledge level of Islam is in need of increase.

[Hila]

Squatting, better than kneeling that would have been a sign of deference to their false religion. Maybe there are chemical weapons in the mosques, as some have suggested.

[Rifleman]

Nonsense. I saw the tape. None of these guys were bowing or kneeling to anyone. Some were in "rice paddy prone" others in a kneeling shooting position. They were lowering their visual threat posture, but without reducing their effectiveness at all should they have needed to fire. We are going to have to govern this place, starting in a few weeks. They KNOW we can kill them at will and that is good. Even better, they know that, without good reason, we won't. So they will be careful not to give us good reason.

[Kevin Curry]

Our guys knelt down and pointed their guns at the ground in deference. The crowd calmed and we basically walked away.

Actually, the crowd dynamic was more interesting than that. As the soldiers dropped to one knee, many men in the crowd sat down in a flat-footed squat in the fashion that is common in the Middle and Far East. It was a fascinating reciprocal response in body langauge.

It was a wise impromptu response by the unit that served immediately to defuse most of the hostility. On the other hand, I don't believe it should be adopted as a standard response.

[skeeter]

The guy difused a potentially explosive situation - good for him. After all, he was in their house.

Now lets make damn good & certain none of these intolerant moslems make it to our shores.

[Toskrin]

It was an interesting crowd dynamic. Although the crowd was chanting and telling, they never made a move at the soldiers. They didn't really seem that mad at them. They were content with blocking the way rather than fighting back. Even though the crowd was fired up, there was a respect for the Americans that went beyond the fear of their firepower.

That being said, one wrong move by someone on either side could have started a massacre. All parties showed restraint - the crowd, the Americans, and the Iraqis trying to mediate between them.

[Happy2BMe]

re·al·ism
Pronunciation: 'rE-&-"li-z&m, 'ri-&-
Function: noun
Date: 1817
1 : concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary

[Happy2BMe]

"There is no holy place in America as sacred as the mosque being defended."

Are these the sentiments of a Muslim?

[Spruce]

I saw the video. It was an honorable act of chivalry at it's best. Inspiring even.

[george wythe]

You're not that pessimist.

You still have a sense of humor :-)

[discostu]

Actually I saw it on my made in Japan TV and even with the pre-amble from the commentators I still thought it was going to be a riot. Things were very ugly. Especially when put into the context that they weren't heading towards the mosque to get rid of the bad guys anyway, they were going to the Imam's house to discuss the mosque, and the Imam was there and couldn't calm the crowd down. Put that picture in your mind: our guys using their intelligence and some body language to defuse a situation that the people's own religious leader couldn't manage to defuse. Pretty impressive feat.

[discostu]

That's the sentiments of reality, America really isn't into sacred places, we have sacred concepts. 3 of the building blocks of America are: don't scare the horses, keep it away from my children, keep it out of my church. All that happened here was that we told the Iraqi's that we'll keep it out of their church. This wasn't some grand battle between Christianity and Islam, this was defusing a riot situation and avoiding a masacre of unarmed people.