BROADSIDES

May 17, 2004

Holy, Holier, Holiest
Whenever a mosque in Iraq is even slightly caught in the crossfire, the news wire services have a seizure--even if the mosque is actually a terrorist base. The headlines always blare "U.S. Armor Damages Holy Shrine" or "American Forces Invade Sacred City" or some similar shit.

This anti-U.S. propaganda-disguised-as-news from the leftist eurofucks at Reuters is a case in point. (Emphasis is mine.)

Holiest Shi'ite Shrine Seen Damaged After Battle
Aides to militant Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr blamed U.S. tank fire Friday for three small holes that appeared in the vast gilded dome of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrine, the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf.

Qais al-Khazali, Sadr's chief spokesman, showed the damage to journalists after six hours of heavy fighting in which U.S. armor advanced for the first time onto sacred ground in its confrontation with Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.

The holes, high above the ground, were on the side of the dome facing Najaf's vast cemetery, where U.S. tanks stormed in to attack guerrilla positions hidden among the tombs ...

Now, get a load of this next paragraph:

But it was not possible for Reuters correspondents at the scene to determine when or how the damage was caused.

Ummmm, then why report it? And if was impossible for the Reuters doofs to tell "when or how the damage was caused," then why compose a headline that suggests the damage wasn't there before the battle?

Back to Reuters:

The damaged shrine is dedicated to Imam Ali, the 7th century Muslim leader whose descendants founded the Shi'ite branch of Islam. There was also fighting close to other important Shi'ite shrines in the holy city of Kerbala, 30 miles away. About 250 Sadr fighters paraded before the Imam Ali mosque during a lull in Friday's battle chanting "Long live, Moqtada!."

Khazali renewed promises of retribution against the U.S. forces that he said had crossed a "red line" onto sacred ground. "There are no red lines left now that the Imam Ali shrine, our holy of holies, has been violated," he said.

Wow. Those intrepid Reuters newshounds sure are tenacious. It takes a keen nose for news and a total dedication to their craft to track down "three small holes" in a mosque wall.

The most disturbing aspect of this non-story is the reaction of the commanding U.S. general of American forces in Najaf. Major General Martin Dempsey "repeated that his forces were trying to avoid damaging holy places." This is what subjugating military strategy to political correctness has wrought--an American general assuring the enemy that we'll be extra careful not to damage their belongings. Some war, huh? The citizens of 1945 Tokyo and Berlin would probably find it odd that a few tiny holes in a wall merit such handwringing.

(What the general should've said is, "Look at it this way, American forces made the holy mosque a bit hole-ier.)

Reuters, the AP and other news bureaus that wet themselves whenever Islamic religious sites and cities get caught in the crossfire should consider that those places are no more holy or sacred than the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, four American commercial airliners and the lives of nearly 3,000 people.

B. Sides @ 10:51 AM