irIraq Teeters Toward Civil War

NYT: BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 23—At least 138 Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs and including some clerics, were killed in central Iraq Wednesday and today in the maelstrom of sectarian violence that followed the insurgent bombing of one of the country’s most sacred Shiite shrines, Iraqi officials said. Seven American soldiers also died in attacks, the American military said today. Full Story

Reuters: BAGHDAD - Forty-seven people were killed in Baghdad in the 24 hours since the bombing of a major Shi’ite shrine sparked the worst sectarian violence the country has seen since the fall of Saddam Hussein, police said on Thursday.

Gunmen sprayed a Sunni mosque in the city of Baquba, northeast of the capital, killing one person in the latest of dozens of such incidents that have left religious and political leaders scrambling to halt a descent into all-out civil war.

Three journalists working for Al-Arabiya television were found shot dead after being attacked while filming in Samarra, where the bloodless but highly symbolic bombing of the Golden Mosque at dawn on Wednesday provoked widespread protest.

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Juan Cole: I worry that Iranian anger will boil over as a result of this bombing of a Shiite millenarian symbol.

Both Sunnis and Americans will be blamed. Very bad.

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