Saying No to Terror

On Monday, in the city of Hillah, south of Baghdad, terrorists staged their bloodiest attack yet in post-Saddam Iraq. At least 125 people were killed, and over 140 wounded. Yet, as horrific as Monday's massacre was, what happened the next day was both remarkable and incredibly heartening:

More than 2,000 people demonstrated Tuesday at the site of a car bombing south of Baghdad that killed 125 people, chanting "No to terrorism!"

[...]

More than 2,000 people held the impromptu demonstration on front of the clinic, chanting "No to terrorism!" and "No to Baathism and Wahhabism!"

Wahhabism is a reference to adherents of the strict form of Sunni Islam preached by Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), while the Baath party was the political organization that ran Iraq under Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

The demonstrators also demanded that interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi step down.


The historic January 30th elections have proven to be a turning point in Iraq. While the Baathists and Wahhabists retain the ability to inflict carnage, it is clear that most of the Iraqi people despise the terrorists and refuse to be intimidated. The insurgency is now little more than a vicious, nihilistic rear guard action by the forces of tyranny and fanaticism, one that is destined to fail.