[$tinkle]

Violence Leaves Young Iraqis Doubting Clerics

BAGHDAD — After almost five years of war, many young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach.

In two months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives.

but then this jaw-dropping paragraph inconsistent w/ the nytimes:

Shiites, considered to be an opposing political force and a threat to Mr. Hussein’s power, were kept under close watch. Young Shiites who worshiped were seen as political subversives and risked attracting the attention of the police.

For that reason, the American liberation tasted sweetest to the Shiites, who for the first time were able to worship freely. They soon became a potent political force, as religious political leaders appealed to their shared and painful past and their respect for the Shiite religious hierarchy.

even a broke calendar works twice a year

 

[sanjuro]

Read it again.

Paragraph 1: Shiites persecuted by Saddam Hussein.
Paragraph 2: Shiites enjoy religious freedom after Saddam Hussein is overthrown by Americans.

It is interesting that young Iraqis blame the old religious guard for their problems. Maybe there is a chance for Iraq after all...

 

[$tinkle]

point is, the gray lady is straying from their usual poo-pooing of the iraq war at any cost. but, with a paper this big, there's bound to be a few diamonds in the rough.

just sharing w/ the class is all.