As we commented in the articles concerning the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Iraq that in the hours after the bombing the most powerful Shiite Cleric Al-Sistane  almost single handedly prevented Iraq from going into civil war.  At the time I strongly suggested that he would be Iran’s next biggest target in their effort to throw the US and the British  away from their boarders as they get ready to assemble some nukes that the president of Iran fuly intends to use to cleanse the mid-east of Israel.  And I suggested then that A-Sistane be kept in a bunker surrounded by US Special forces.   Al-Sadr also would appear to be a likely target as he sent his militia men to protect Sunni Mosques from further attacks.  My feelings are since Al-Sadr took two trips to Iran – to speak with his Iranian associates that Al-Sadr’s  move to protect Sunni mosques  was not a benevolent move to hold the peace in Iraq as it was meant to appear.  For in reality this move was only done after it was known that Al-Sistane’s orders followed and that the  specter of civil war had been already averted .  So this was done to hold or raise Al-Sadr’s standing.  It appears that if Al-Sistane is killed and the current government is either killed our discredited and collapses since they have been paralyzed for months since the election that Al-Sadr is the heir apparent and if he would come into power he could aid Iran by casting out all the US troops at their gate.   Iran wants the democratically eleced government to fail in Iraq and is taking out all stops to end it before it firmly takes root.

 

U.S. Intel: Qaeda Plotting 'Big Bang'


March 2, 2006

 

(CBS/AP) U.S. officials tell CBS News that intelligence has picked up reports that al Qaeda in Iraq is planning what one source calls the "Big Bang," a spectacular terrorist attack in Iraq against either a single high-profile target or multiple targets simultaneously.

Last week's mosque bombing in city of Samarra that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war was the work of terrorists, some U.S. officials have theorized.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi seems to be betting that another big bang would push the country over the brink, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin. The bomb in one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims set off violence all across the country that left hundreds dead.

The Iraqi government has banned all private vehicles in Baghdad during daylight hours Friday, the Muslim prayer day, just as it did last week. That kept car bombs, what the military cars vehicle-born improvised explosive devices, off the streets.

But Zarqawi just waited until the ban was lifted.

"The day the vehicle ban was lifted, all these VBIEDS that he had staged he deployed in Iraq and detonated over the last three days," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a U.S. military spokesman.

This week, the ban takes effect when the overnight curfew ends at 6 a.m. Friday and will last until 4 p.m. Friday, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office. Police and army were instructed to seal off the capital and seize any private vehicles that defy the ban.

Pentagon officials are also worried that a terrorist spectacular will undermine administration claims about progress in Iraq and therefore weaken public support for the war here at home, Martin reports.

Also Thursday, a bomb ripped through a vegetable market in a Shiite section of Baghdad and a leading Sunni politician escaped an attack on his convoy as at least 36 people were killed in unrelenting violence pushing Iraq toward civil war.

As sectarian killing surged last week, the U.S. 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division was put on alert in neighboring Kuwait for a possible move into Iraq, the military said. But no orders were given for such a move.

The violence has complicated talks to form a broad-based government, which U.S. officials consider essential to cut support for insurgents among the Sunni-Arab minority so coalition forces can start drawing down later this year.


©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/02/iraq/main1364828.shtml