In retaliation, the U.S. dropped a bomb on the mosque compound, causing some damage. Reports of a mosque under U.S. attack have been broadcast across the Islamic world.
An analysis of the insurgency in Iraq now from Professor Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistani ambassador, now chair of the Islamic studies department at the American University in Washington and the author of ISLAM UNDER SIEGE.
Dr. Ahmed, what is your sense of the situation in Iraq now?
Dr. AKBAR S. AHMED (Author, ISLAM UNDER SIEGE): I believe this is a turning point. The mosque has been attacked; the Shiites and the Sunnis, for the first time, have united in armed resistance against the coalition troops; and the resistance has a face -- this fiery, relatively obscure cleric, Moqtada Sadr.
ABERNETHY: A turning point, from what to what?
Dr. AHMED: Well, it's a year since Saddam was toppled, and we had America very much seen as liberators. From now on, I am afraid, Americans will be seen as occupiers because there is widespread resistance. It's not quite an entire nationwide revolt, but it is in significant pockets, and there has been a lot of killing. Fallujah itself, according to official estimates -- maybe three, 400 people killed.ABERNETHY: What's the religious component in all this?
Dr. AHMED: The religious component is now coming to the fore: the mosque being attacked, and then, more significantly, Sadr, who is a very shrewd political creature, moves his base of operations to Najaf in the south, which is the heart of the Shia holy territory, which means he is identifying his movement with Shia martyrdom, Shia commitment, and Shia passion.
Dr. AHMED: That would mean that ordinary Iraqis who may not want to be involved in armed resistance against coalition troops would begin to see Americans and American troops in a very different light. They may begin to see this as a holy war, so we are transforming something that does not exist into a very inflammatory situation.
Revisit R & E's December 19, 2003 
