Zens7s
10-02-2006, 11:52 AM
Why is 'Buddy Jesus' in Iraq?
Chicago Sun Times
October 2, 2006
BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi troops backed by American military advisers arrested a suspected Shiite militiaman Saturday, but a gunbattle at his house left a woman and a girl dead, Iraqi police said.
Afterward, angry men at the scene held up a color photo of a smiling, winking Jesus giving a "thumbs up" that they said was left by troops at the raided house -- an allegation denied by U.S. and Iraqi officials.
The photo, known as the "Buddy Christ," is from the movie "Dogma," a 1999 religious satire in which "Buddy Christ" is part of a church campaign to improve Jesus' image.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said the photo was a ''rather ridiculous attempt'' to discredit the raid. It was unclear how it ended up at the site in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City .
Potential crisis
Meanwhile, Shiite politicians demanded changes in the Iraqi government Sunday, accusing a Sunni Arab party in the coalition of ties to terrorism after a bodyguard of its leader was arrested on suspicion of planning bomb attacks.
The dispute threatened a sectarian crisis within the national unity government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which is struggling to contain spiraling Shiite-Sunni killings that the U.S. ambassador said have surpassed Sunni insurgent attacks in deadliness.
The potential government crisis erupted after U.S. troops Friday arrested a bodyguard of Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, saying the man was suspected of leading an al-Qaida-linked cell that was ''in the final stages" of carrying out bombings in Baghdad's Green Zone, the center of government and home to the U.S. embassy.
AP
Chicago Sun Times
October 2, 2006
BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi troops backed by American military advisers arrested a suspected Shiite militiaman Saturday, but a gunbattle at his house left a woman and a girl dead, Iraqi police said.
Afterward, angry men at the scene held up a color photo of a smiling, winking Jesus giving a "thumbs up" that they said was left by troops at the raided house -- an allegation denied by U.S. and Iraqi officials.
The photo, known as the "Buddy Christ," is from the movie "Dogma," a 1999 religious satire in which "Buddy Christ" is part of a church campaign to improve Jesus' image.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said the photo was a ''rather ridiculous attempt'' to discredit the raid. It was unclear how it ended up at the site in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City .
Potential crisis
Meanwhile, Shiite politicians demanded changes in the Iraqi government Sunday, accusing a Sunni Arab party in the coalition of ties to terrorism after a bodyguard of its leader was arrested on suspicion of planning bomb attacks.
The dispute threatened a sectarian crisis within the national unity government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which is struggling to contain spiraling Shiite-Sunni killings that the U.S. ambassador said have surpassed Sunni insurgent attacks in deadliness.
The potential government crisis erupted after U.S. troops Friday arrested a bodyguard of Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, saying the man was suspected of leading an al-Qaida-linked cell that was ''in the final stages" of carrying out bombings in Baghdad's Green Zone, the center of government and home to the U.S. embassy.
AP