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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (20462)	11/3/2003 7:04:45 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23908

Mosques under suspicion COLIN FREEMAN IN BAGHDAD Mon 3 Nov 2003 thescotsman.co.uk YESTERDAY’S helicopter attack will bolster a theory among commanders that their most dangerous days in Iraq are nearly always Sundays or Mondays. This, according to one United States general, is because most attacks are carried out by insurgent fighters who meet up in mosques for the weekly prayers on Fridays. They then plan for a day or two, before launching a strike and lying low again for the rest of the week. The theory was first disclosed last week by Brigadier General Mark Hertling, who was speaking in the aftermath of a spree of suicide car bombings in Baghdad, and the rocket attack on the al-Rasheed hotel the day before. It is not clear whether Brig Gen Hertling had specific intelligence and analysis to back up his claims, or whether he was merely voicing a hunch. But while the events of the last seven days in Iraq would appear to back him up - Tuesday to Saturday were relatively quiet - a cursory glance at the most serious incidents in recent months shows no obvious signs of such a sustained cycle. Only two serious attacks have taken place on a Sunday, the one on the al-Rasheed hotel a week ago, and another on the Baghdad hotel on 12 October. In pinning the attacks so closely to the routines of prayer day, US commanders also risk undermining their own public claims about the nature of the guerrilla campaign against them. They have normally stuck to the line that most of the strikes are the work of non-religious Saddam loyalists. But with US troops generally maintaining a respectful distance from the country’s religious buildings, conspirators may feel safe mingling amid the crowds. In recent months, US troops have discovered weapons in mosques on several occasions.