Who has won here?

[I Ratant]

Why should this man be doing this?

[Cainkane1]

Why shouldn't he? Thats the way I feel when a loved one passes away.

[Gawdzilla]

Why shouldn't he? Thats the way I feel when a loved one passes away.

Why should he be mourning a loved one that died a stupid, premature death for no good reason?

[Gate2501]

To make himself feel better? His wife was killed. I really don't care how people mourn the loss of a loved one so long as it doesn't harm anyone else.

I don't really understand the point of this OP.

[Professor Yaffle]

I am bemused too? Unless you are asking why this man should have to be mourning his wife at all, and pointing out the senselessness of the violence?

[ZirconBlue]

I am bemused too? Unless you are asking why this man should have to be mourning his wife at all, and pointing out the senslessness of the violence?

That was my interpretation.

[HarryKeogh]

Why should he be mourning a loved one that died a stupid, premature death for no good reason?

That's what I'm getting from the OP.

[Gawdzilla]

That's what I'm getting from the OP.

It helps if we read the caption on the picture, doesn't it. That explains things effectively.

[I Ratant]

When will it just plain f*********g STOP!?

[Gate2501]

Right then, I misinterpreted the OP.

Apologies.

[Mr Clingford]

Why is this posted in this forum?

[Third Eye Open]

Why is this posted in this forum?

You know the answer to that question.

[Mr Clingford]

You know the answer to that question.It strikes me as a political issue, not religious or philosophical.

[Third Eye Open]

It strikes me as a political issue, not religious or philosophical.

I suppose you could be right, I had guessed that the bombings were religiously motivated, but car bombings could go either way.

[Cavemonster]

I suppose you could be right, I had guessed that the bombings were religiously motivated, but car bombings could go either way.

It's a fuzzy area because groups and motivations that divide along religious lines are also divided by cultural, political, and socio-economic lines.

But it is clear from the Hutus and Tutsis, the Tamil tigers the FARK and and any number of terrorist groups that fundamentalist religious motivation is hardly necessary for atrocity.

And while religious conviction may be a motivating factor for some Iraqi insurgents, violence there has such a clear political motivation that I can't see a religious categorization being really appropriate.

[Mr Clingford]

Cavemonster has expressed in detail what I was getting at. Thanks. (Are you a rabbit, with pointy teeth?)

[I Ratant]

As few people there will do anything on their own, it's just not Islamic to be an independent thinker, there's a lot of religious approval for these acts of random murder.
I bet both the woman and the jerk that murdered her are considered martyrs, for basically opposing reasons.
As long as these acts of indiscriminate murder are sanctioned and so commonplace, I find it quite easy to wonder..."What is wrong with you people?".
Can't even go to the market without fear of being killed! Or the mosque. Or the football field. Or the funeral. Or the wedding.
What is wrong with you people?

[Cavemonster]

What is wrong with you people?

A good question. What is wrong with the Iraqi people?

20 years of Saddam Hussein's Oppressive regime

13 Years of an extreme trade embargo.

The complete destruction of their government and police and occupation at the hands of US forces.

Continued occupation by a foreign power for most of this decade.

[Darth Rotor]

It's a fuzzy area because groups and motivations that divide along religious lines are also divided by cultural, political, and socio-economic lines.

But it is clear from the Hutus and Tutsis, the Tamil tigers the FARK and and any number of terrorist groups that fundamentalist religious motivation is hardly necessary for atrocity.

And while religious conviction may be a motivating factor for some Iraqi insurgents, violence there has such a clear political motivation that I can't see a religious categorization being really appropriate.
It is appropriate due to the religion and politics not being separated, but for good or ill intertwined in the environment there. The rvarious eligious sects have a non-trivial influence on group identification in Iraq. Group ID (whose side are you on?) plays into the incentives to commit these bombings.

IMO you are making a signal error in pretending a separation between politics and religious affiliation/religion, in Iraq.

To add to your list of excuses, I will offer you the root cause of the bombings since about 2004: the profound lack of trust between societal groups as power is redistributed post Saddam, combined with a mad grab for whatever power can be grabbed, by the various factions there. Another is: a more powerful association and identification with local tribe, clan, party, faction, than this nebulous thing called "Iraq" so far. This hopefully will change. It may not, and Iraq may yet fracture ... about the time that foreign power leaves.

DR

[I Ratant]

A good question. What is wrong with the Iraqi people?

20 years of Saddam Hussein's Oppressive regime

...
.
This kind of mass murder was rare to never under Saddam, who was an equal opportunity oppressor.
The various sects had a common enemy whom they rightfully feared.
We've been there 7 years, and it has only gotten worse with time!