Ashura

^{The Shi'ite holy week of Ashura started today.  It is the anniversary of the Murder of the 3rd Imam, Hussein (Ironic, huh?). He was the 3rd in a disputed line of succession from the prophet Mohammed. This holy day is a BIG deal to the Shia. It was around this time in Islamic history that the schism between Shia and Sunni began to develop.  You may have seen pictures in the news over the past two years of the ceremonial pilgrimage from Karbala to Najaf where people, dance, chant and flagellate themselves by making a small cut near the top of their heads and slapping and scratching it until they are drenched in their own blood. This is done to commemorate the martyrdom of the Imam. Even small head wounds bleed profusely – not much encouragement is required. The bloodiness looks worse than it really is. This ritual and holy day were banned under Saddam. It was one of his ways of keeping the Shia oppressed. Now it is a favorite time for terrorists to strike.   The holy period officially started today, but the bombings started yesterday. One of them happened in our neighborhood – an awful and stupid waste of human life.}

^{On a completely separate note from that carnage, I went on a house search recently with the unit that we are replacing. It was a good night. We nabbed a small group of bad guys without having to fire a shot. That is about all that I can say about it other than I hope all of our missions go that well or better during our tour.}

^{Following up on the great reference from Uncle Hugh, I have seen him mention the Mudville Gazette frequently, as I read his blog regularly. However, I never made the time to read the MG. Today, I made the effort, and have seen what I have been missing. This particular post is quite a gem about the mentality of the American Warrior.  I will be reading this fellow soldier’s posts regularly.}