from the ny times:

blast destroys shrine in iraq, setting off sectarian fury

baghdad, iraq, feb. 22 — a powerful explosion shattered the golden dome of one of iraq’s most revered shiite shrines this morning, setting off a day of almost unparalleled sectarian fury in cities and towns across iraq as protesting mobs took to the streets to chant for revenge and set fire to dozens of sunni mosques.

the bombing of the golden mosque in samarra, 60 miles north of baghdad, left its famous golden dome in ruins but injured no one, and only a handful of people appear to have been killed in the widespread street protests and violence that ensued.

but the shrine has enormous significance for shiites, and its destruction — coming after two days of bloody attacks that left dozens of shiite civilians dead — ignited a nationwide outpouring of rage and panic that sharply underscored iraq’s sectarian divide.

shiite militia members flooded the streets of baghdad, firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at sunni mosques as iraqi army soldiers — called out to stop the violence — stood helpless nearby. by the day’s end, mobs had struck 27 sunni mosques in the capital, killing three imams and kidnapping a fourth, interior ministry officials said.

in the southern shiite city of basra, shiite militia members destroyed at least two sunni mosques, killing an imam, and launched an attack on the headquarters of iraq’s best-known sunni arab political party. in samarra, thousands of people crowded the courtyard of the golden mosque, some weeping and kissing the stones, others angrily chanting “our blood and souls we sacrifice for you imams!”

president bush issued a statement today extending his sympathy to iraqis for the bombing.

“the united states condemns this cowardly act in the strongest possible terms,” mr. bush said in washington. “i ask all iraqis to exercise restraint in the wake of this tragedy, and to pursue justice in accordance with the laws and constitution of iraq.”

all of iraq’s major political and religious leaders issued their own urgent appeals for restraint, and prime minister ibrahim al jaafari called for a three-day mourning period in a televised appearance. ayatollah ali al-sistani, iraq’s most senior shiite cleric, released a statement in which he said, “if the government’s security forces cannot provide the necessary protection, the believers will do it.”

the shrine bombing came after days of mounting violence aimed mostly at shiite civilians, as iraq’s political leaders are struggling — with little success — to agree on the principles of a new national unity government. insurgents have often struck during moments of political transition in the past, in apparent efforts to foment further conflict between iraq’s shiite, kurdish, and sunni arab political factions.

most iraqi leaders attributed the attack to terrorists bent on exploiting sectarian rifts. but in a striking break from the past, the leader of iraq’s main shiite political alliance said he thought zalmay khalilzad, the american ambassador to iraq, was partly to blame for the bombing of the shrine.

the shiite leader, abdul aziz al hakim, said he thought mr. khalilzad’s public comments on monday, in which he drew attention to apparent death squads operating within iraq’s shiite-led interior ministry, were a provocation to the bombing. he did not explain how.

“this declaration gave a green light for these groups to do their operation, so he is responsible for a part of that,” mr. hakim said of the ambassador, at a news conference called to condemn the shrine bombing.

the renegade shiite cleric muqtada al sadr, whose mahdi army militia led many of the violent protests today, also placed some blame on what he called the “occupation forces” for the bombing, in comments to al jazeera television. mr. sadr told the network he was cutting short a trip to lebanon because of the shrine attack, and called on the new iraqi parliament, which includes 32 of his followers, to meet and vote on a request for coalition forces to leave iraq.

the attack in samarra began at 7 a.m., when a group of a dozen men dressed in paramilitary uniforms entered the shrine and handcuffed four guards who were sleeping in a back room, said a spokesman for the provincial governor’s office. the attackers then placed a bomb in the dome and detonated it, collapsing most of the dome and heavily damaging an adjoining wall.

the shrine is one of four major shiite shrines in iraq, and two of the 12 imams revered by mainstream shiites are buried in it: ali al-hadi, who died in 868 a.d., and his son, the 11th imam, hassan al-askari. according to legend, the 12th imam, muhammad al-mahdi, went into hiding near the shrine, and shiites believe he will return before the day of judgment to bring justice to a fallen world.

no group claimed responsibility for the attack, but some iraqi officials quickly pointed a finger at al qaeda in mesopotamia, the jihadist group that is believed to be responsible for many of the attacks on shiite civilians and mosques in the past two years.

samarra’s population is mostly sunni arab, and it was a haven for insurgents until 2004, when american and iraqi troops carried out a major operation to retake the city (and the golden mosque) from guerrilla fighters. but the insurgents have filtered back since then, and american troops in and around the city are now regularly attacked.

from the ny times:

op-ed columnist

suppress the vote?

by bob herbert

the big story out of florida over the weekend was the tragic devastation caused by hurricane charley. but there’s another story from florida that deserves our attention.

state police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd “”investigation”” that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in november.

the officers, from the florida department of law enforcement, which reports to gov. jeb bush, say they are investigating allegations of voter fraud that came up during the orlando mayoral election in march.

officials refused to discuss details of the investigation, other than to say that absentee ballots are involved. they said they had no idea when the investigation might end, and acknowledged that it may continue right through the presidential election.

“”we did a preliminary inquiry into those allegations and then we concluded that there was enough evidence to follow through with a full criminal investigation,”” said geo morales, a spokesman for the department of law enforcement.

the state police officers, armed and in plain clothes, have questioned dozens of voters in their homes. some of those questioned have been volunteers in get-out-the-vote campaigns.

i asked mr. morales in a telephone conversation to tell me what criminal activity had taken place.

“”i can’t talk about that,”” he said.

i asked if all the people interrogated were black.

“”well, mainly it was a black neighborhood we were looking at – yes,” he said.

he also said, “”most of them were elderly.””

when i asked why, he said, “”that’s just the people we selected out of a random sample to interview.””

back in the bad old days, some decades ago, when southern whites used every imaginable form of chicanery to prevent blacks from voting, blacks often fought back by creating voters leagues, which were organizations that helped to register, educate and encourage black voters. it became a tradition that continues in many places, including florida, today.

not surprisingly, many of the elderly black voters who found themselves face to face with state police officers in orlando are members of the orlando league of voters, which has been very successful in mobilizing the city’s black vote.

the president of the orlando league of voters is ezzie thomas, who is 73 years old. with his demonstrated ability to deliver the black vote in orlando, mr. thomas is a tempting target for supporters of george w. bush in a state in which the black vote may well spell the difference between victory and defeat.

the vile smell of voter suppression is all over this so-called investigation by the florida department of law enforcement.

joseph egan, an orlando lawyer who represents mr. thomas, said: “”the voters league has workers who go into the community to do voter registration, drive people to the polls and help with absentee ballots. they are elderly women mostly. they get paid like $100 for four or five months’ work, just to offset things like the cost of their gas. they see this political activity as an important contribution to their community. some of the people in the community had never cast a ballot until the league came to their door and encouraged them to vote.””

now, said mr. egan, the fear generated by state police officers going into people’s homes as part of an ongoing criminal investigation related to voting is threatening to undo much of the good work of the league. he said, “”one woman asked me, ‘am i going to go to jail now because i voted by absentee ballot?’ “”

according to mr. egan, “”people who have voted by absentee ballot for years are refusing to allow campaign workers to come to their homes. and volunteers who have participated for years in assisting people, particularly the elderly or handicapped, are scared and don’t want to risk a criminal