November 21, 2013

Finally!

An excerpt from, "Iraq militia says fires mortar bombs at Saudi as warning" by Angus McDowall and Suadad al-Salhy, Reuters, November 21:
Six mortar bombs landed near a border post in northern Saudi Arabia in an attack claimed by an Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militia, which said on Thursday it was warning the kingdom to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs.

The mortar rounds hit desert on the far northwestern fringes of the kingdom's oil-producing region on Wednesday, several hundred kilometers (miles) from the major fields operated by the world's largest oil exporter and biggest Arab economy.

"The goal was to send a warning message to Saudis to tell them that their border stations and patrol are within our range of fire," Wathiq al-Batat, commander of Iraq's al-Mukhtar Army militia, told Reuters in Baghdad by telephone.

He said the militia wanted Riyadh to stop "interfering" in Iraq and that it had also been angered by Saudis and Kuwaitis who he said had insulted the Prophet Mohammad's daughter.

There was no independent confirmation that the militia was behind the mortar fire, reported two days after twin suicide bombings killed 25 people near Iran's embassy in Beirut. Some Shi'ite commentators blamed that assault on Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia, which has condemned the Beirut attack.
The rulers of Saudi Arabia naively believe their kingdom is untouchable. But this is what you get when you export terrorism, fund suicide bombings, plan terror attacks in other countries, and do horrible things that piss people off. It's nice to see the other side striking back for once, even if it is only a warning.