A couple of weeks ago, discussing the fighting in Najaf, I wrote

Of course, if there is damage to the shrines, no matter who pulled the trigger, we will be blamed. And of course, our enemies are very well aware of that...

As I write, the New York Times reports:

By early Tuesday morning the shrine was shrouded in smoke from a large fire on the northern edge of the Old City.

The attack did not appear to have damaged the dome of the mosque. But an attack on Sunday night punched a deep hole in the west wall of the shrine and scattered shrapnel and twisted pieces of metal across the area.

Now, some people say that Muqtada al-Sadr's forces desecrated the shrine first, by turning it into an armed camp. They say that Muslims everywhere should be pleased we're chasing Sadr's guys out. These people are idiots. As Prof. Cole explains, the Muslim world at large sees this as, at best, a pitched battle between Muslim thugs and Christian thugs -- and when they see that kind of fight, they'll back the Muslims every time.