Free Republic

A massive pilgrimage to this Shiite Muslim holy city this week ended unexpectedly in peace and with signs of moderation toward US forces they credited for ousting Saddam Hussein, who had severely restricted the ritual in past years. Despite repeated calls from religious leaders to show hostility to occupation forces, anti-US demonstrations staged on Tuesday and Wednesday drew only a few thousand, a tiny fraction of the pilgrims. Hundreds of thousands joined the ceremony of mourning imam Hussein, the Shiites' top martyr, in and around his mausoleum in Karbala, 80 kilometres southwest of Baghdad, paying little or no attention to...