Jesus God. How many Shiites must die in Iraq? 30 Shiite (Shia) Muslim civilians were murdered in cold blood today as they tried to mark Ashura, their most holy day. Last year, more than 180 were slaughtered during Ashura celebrations. According to the BBC today,

Religious processions, mosques and funerals were struck, in a second day of attacks targeting Ashura.

Hey, everyone! Muslims (Sunni/Wahabi) are killing Muslims (Shiite). Places of worship are being blown to bits. Funeral processions are being bombed. Iraq’s terrorists won’t even allow Shiites to bury their dead.

I have heard lots of condemnation of the U.S. liberation of Iraq, but where are the voices calling for an end to the endless slaughter of Iraq’s Shiites – and Christians, and American soldiers, etc. “World opinion” has become something out of an Orwellian nightmare, where the “Ministry of Peace” really means the “Ministry of Rationalizing Terrorism.”

What are Iraq’s Shiites guilty of? Yes, there was the infamous Shiite terrorist Muqtada al-Sadr, but Iraq’s top Shiite, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, pressured al-Sadr to give up control of the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf. The city is quiet now and under the control of Iraq’s interim government. I was at first worried about Sistani, believing him to be a potential ally of Iran’s crazy mullacracy.

There's no evidence to-date of some grand conspiracy for Iraqi Shiites to become politically subservient to Iran's dictators. Sistani put his blessing on democratic elections. Millions of Shiites voted. Once tasting the voting booth, will Iraq's Shiites -- and Kurds, Turkoman, etc. -- be willing to give up their newly-found people power? In fact, Sistani has vowed not to impose Sharia (Islamic law) on his country. So far, he has kept his word.

Sunni/Wahabi/al-Qaeda violence has specifically targeted Iraq’s Shiites, but Shiites have showed enormous restraint. They have not reacted with violence. Iraqi Shiites have shown great courage, determination, and social maturity, waiting to vote instead of plotting revenge.

Iraq’s interim president, Ghazi Yawer, is a Sunni. An aid to Sistani insisted on January 7 that Sunnis will be included in a national unity government “irrespective of how their parties fare in the polls.” Even after their huge win in Iraq’s January 30 elections, Shiites continue to be adamant that Sunnis will be included in the drafting of the country’s permanent constitution.

And yet, all we get from “mainstream” pundits is hand-wringing over Sunni under-participation in the elections. Never mind the fact that some Sunnis did vote. Never mind the fact that Sunni “clerics” coerced their flock into avoiding the elections, then went hypocritically kicking and screaming because many Sunnis avoided the elections.

I will leave readers with an eloquent quote from one of Iraq’s interim government officials:

Iraq's national security adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie accused militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and former Baath Party members of trying to provoke a sectarian civil war.

"It's a paradoxical idea when they claim that they are fighting the infidels and at the same time, they kill Muslims during Friday prayers," he told the Associated Press news agency.