February 24, 2006

The following is an email I sent to Juan Cole, of "Informed Comment".

"Greetings Juan

Since your below comment, at 6:38 a.m. on February 22, 2006 :

"Then real disaster struck. The guerriillas (sic) blew up the domed Askariyah shrine in Samarra. The shrine, sacred to Shiiites (sic), honors 3 Imams or holy descendants of the Prophet."

and your several other comments, hence, on the event; neither yourself, nor does any of the other Western Media, seem to be concerned on who perpetrated this calamity, but expend all your energy on enumerating the unfolding consequences.

I find that to be journalistically unprofessional, and certainly not an "Informed Comment".

The suspicion of the "guerrillas" responsibility for this attack posed itself immediately as the reported sequence of events, as reported by the mass media, flagrantly contradicted with the account offered by the Interior Minister's statement in recounting what had happened (as per below posting).

The glaring suspicion, and especially after several eye witnesses have come forward, does point a damning finger to the Iraqi "Special Police Forces" that were so heavily invested in by the CIA over the past few years, at Langley and in Jordan.

Smothering what is most important in this tragedy, regarding the real perpetrators, with the mere recounting of the consequences belies an "Informed Comment".

All the best
Imad Khadduri"