Marines fire at Shia protestors

By Steve Gilliard

Iraqis Protest in Holy City; Another U.S. Soldier Is Killed
By REUTERS

Filed at 11:29 a.m. ET

KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. troops opened fire in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala on Sunday as stone-throwing Iraqis protested over Marines killing a man the day before.

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In a reminder that tensions are not restricted to Saddam's Sunni Muslim heartlands north and west of the capital, the Kerbala protesters said they were incensed by Saturday's killing because they believed those involved had been trying to keep the Americans out of the venerated Imam Hussein mosque.

``America is the enemy of God!'' chanted dozens of mourners as they carried the coffin Haider al-Shihlawi, in his 20s, who doctors said was shot by troops in Kerbala on Sunday.

Any spread of conflict would be unwelcome to the Americans.

The last line being an understatement along the lines of: there may be a reaction if we approach the Yalu River.

If the Shias turn against the US, moving from active non-cooperation to warfare
our stay in Iraq will be short and bloody. This is a very, very bad thing.

The US is fast pushing towards a turning point, but one of defeat, not victory. The US can barely handle a Sunni insurrection. They cannot deal with a Shia/Sunni insurrection. In a weekend of bad news for the Bush Administration, this story may be the worse news of the entire war.

Posted July 27, 2003 05:47 PM