I wish the Iraqi team all the best against Saudi Arabia on Saturday.  If anyone has earned this championship, it is them.

If the Iraqi people can be united for a moment in Joy, they must be united in stopping those who would keep them from experiencing any more moments like that.

It is so heartbreaking to me to learn of this latest tragedy caused by a cowardly suicide/homicide bomber. If their God truly loved his followers this bloodshed would not happen. It is truly sickening. The far left in the US and Britain better start accepting that this "war" will be something that will be fought for an exponentially long time. Since "Allah" allows and encourages his "followers" to slaughter each other I think I'll pray to my own God, Jesus, for these people. However, they're going to need a lot more than just praying.

Some how let peace be to all...soon!

Will you stop being so patronizing towards the Iraqi people!!!  I wish you people would just for one moment stop and recognize the reality the were it not for Arch Criminal and baby killer Bush and his criminal cohort neo-cons Iraq would still be a more restful nation today, warts(Saddam) and all.

Gunfire is the Iraqi way of celebrating. What a revealing comment. There will be no hope for this sad country until it's people celebrate with smiles and hugs instead of guns.

Well done Iraq and the Iraqis.

Sad how people can bring their extreme version of politics into play during one of Iraqs few moments of joy in recent years.

Good luck Iraq!

The two suicide bombs were a terrible tragedy.  Football has proven to be an activity to unit people regardless of their ethnic background or religion believes.  I hope to see another moment of joy in Iraq on Saturday when the Iraqi Squad defeat South Arabia (2 -0)

the bastards in that poor country just can't let them alone long enough to enjoy what should have been a great day.they hate to see these people have one moment of joy. that alone should inspire the Iraqui people to want to put an end to these animals in their home land.i hope that the Iraqi soccer team does well in the finals. If for no other reason than to bring joy to a people that diserves it.

     I used too be all for a U.S. presence in Iraq, but lately it's a different story. The Iraqi people seem to have no interest in helping the U.S. secure their country against the extremist. I now feel we should keep providing air support for the current government now in place and pull our ground troops completly out of Iraq and let the Iraqi military deal with the extremist that are killing their children.  

Get real people, while our troops are in harm's way patroling this nation the citizens are playing or warchiing a ball game. When are the people going to get serious about losing not only their home but also their lives. Shoe me a religion whereas a person, soldier or whatever condones the slaughter or killing of another human and I'll show you a non-believer that really is out for personal gain. A great pretender, such as our own President Bush.

How do you defeat an enemy that has no heart?
You can hate the US, you can hate your enemy but how do you hate a human being for being happy?
This world has slipped into insanity and we as Americans debate presidents and policies. A world full of people wanting to live, laugh, and survive, engulfed by fools. What the hell was God thinking?

There truly is a brotherhood in soccer. I'll be pulling for you in the finals. Hopefully you'll get another respite of joy. Just remember that they resent the unity and joy that comes from the national team and wish toruin the moment. Good on you to not let them.

Sorry for the loss of life. But what can you expect from that part of the world. Its just par for the course. They kill our American soldiers that way and I don't see any Iraqi doing enough to stop that either.

It is wonderful to know that the people of Iraq had something to be happy about in their country. If for a shining moment the Iraqi Soccer Team can bring joy and excitement to the people of Iraq then they deserve to win the championship. I do hope they win on Saturday. Let peace and joy abound for the team and the people. Peace to all!  

The accomplishment of the Iraqi soccer team shows how your country and countrymen can work together. Congratulations and good luck in the coming finals!

I am wondering how long it will be before citizens of Iraq start to realize that they can stop these groups of people that just want to hurt anyone and everyone.  So what if it's your brother or your cousin that is involved, turn him in, he will be killing your uncle, your son, your wife, your father.  Its the same with American gangs.  The family and neighbors have to stand up and say stop them.  The more people that anonymously stand up and say this is where they are, the less "they" will be able to find the one that said it.  

Really amazing the despite terrorist killing innocent people the people still managed to carry on in celebration even after the media has been claiming that all of Iraq has been hunkered down in fear. Sounds like Democracy working to me that people are allowed to celebrate. How did the Iraqis get the info they won, freedom of the press? Your recycled negative news from Iraq seems to be falling on deaf ears lately.

At least, for a moment, all was forgotten as far as sectarian differences are concerned and a country became united as one.  I spent eighteen months in Baghdad as a civilian contractor and have seen firsthand the joy shared by the people when something such as this brought them together as one people.  The first such happening was the day that Saddam was captured and the people celebrated just like this(ie. the soccer match).  It's a shame that 9/11 brought our people together as one voice but since then, we have all gone back to our separate ways and are fighting each other just as the Sunnis and the Shites are.  Just listen to the news or read the papers and you will find reports much like the ones from Iraq  minus the car bombs and the discovery of tortured and murdered bodies of the opposite parties.  Instead, we listen to the hate-filled speeches of our elected leaders in Congress and, like the Shia bashing the Sunnis, the Democrats are bashing the Republicans and vice versa.  We have our own war of sectarian differences to wage and with the current career politicians in office, there will never be peace and a joy like Iraqis have just experienced.  The only difference between their sectarian violence and ours is there is no killing here provided by each party or by a third party(ie. the militants).  Years of being in office does not make one the right choice for the job.  We need to come together and forget party lines.  We need to experince something good for a change and I pray it doesn't take another national tradgety to make that happen.  Think about it, since 9/11, when was the last time our congress came together with the president on an issue?  I know I can count that on my toes or fingers, can you?

Jo, East Haven, CT "If their God truly loved his followers this bloodshed would not happen."

This is a truly ignorant comment...Jo, I think that You could try to understand more about UNITY and work more toward World Peace if you did a little less judging and a lot more investigation about subjects you know nothing about....
Could it be, If these people loved God more they would not do this to themselfs? The God of the Jews, the Christians and the Islamic is the same God...The same God of the Buddest and The same God of the Baha'i.
It is the leadership of the Clergy that keeps the truth of God from Creating the most Great Peace. If only more people would investigate the truth and rely less on someone telling them what the truth is, Then we could see less Hate and more Love, Less division and more Unity.
God is the same for all People. If you truly seek God's truth.
God wants us to have peace and live in understanding. God does not cause evil. Man cause enough of it without any divine help.

I can't believe the killings going on over there.They don't care about life,just killing.They are cowards.They can't get what they want so they kill.
Stupid!

WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? Have we not learned that even a joyous day for the Iraqis ends in bloodshed.  We do not understand these people and they do not understand us.  There is no such thing as a peaceful democracy in Iraq and there never will be.  A parliamentary recess, an unknown enemy, roadside bombings, incessant sectarian violence and no oil-revenue agreements; we do not have the answers, let's face it.  
The only thing we can do is leave.  We are not bringing the fight to al-Qaeda, we're just providing the battlefield.  We have to realize that we don't understand why they blow each other up as much as we don't understand why they would want to kill innocent Westerners in the name of their religion.  Let's all wake up and get out of there.  When it comes to mistakes they say: "smart men make them, stupid men repeat them."  Right now we're doing both.

What a way to celebrate life with death!  Wait that is what my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary.  He died for the sins of the World once and for all the sin issue was settled and not one drop of his precious blood was or is waisted!  Thank you Jesus for these precious people of Iraq!  We ask you Lord for a supernatural outpouring of your Holy Spirit and a supernatural intervention in the Middle East so all will know that You are Lord and God!

If we would not have invaded Iraq, they would be under the will of a dictator.  Now it is just chaos.  Other countries have dictators.  Should we invade them?  Would it be chaotic?  How many reasons for being there do we need?  Stop kidding yourselves and remember that oil is the number one reason.

we have done our best to help this country,we are fighting fanatics that even if they won they have no idea how to run a country.I am very upset that the muslim world have tolerated this debauchery,had these monarchs invested in bringing industry to their countries there people would have jobs instead of guns.The kings and princes have spent lavishly on theirselves and left those who are not connected to fester their anger.The major problem is help your own and open up your over stuffed wallets to spread the word that muslims killing each other is a travesty,leaders in these countries should be telling everyone that these different factions are a assault on their religion and should be turned in and exposed to rid the arab world and the rest of us of these vicious animals who have taken a peaceful religion and made a mockery of the Koran.We want to buy oil not die to protect these monarch's who control the flow of it,its not our fault that the monies that have been generated from their oil has been spent on the royal families and the hell with their subjects.
Thats the problem that has grown into a false pretense that the USA and other democracies are at fault and if these terrorists want to give to their own tumble the kings and princes who control the purse strings. a troubled american who's tired of seeing us fight these fat cats war.ty ned

In case you people haven't realized, the terrorists in Iraq don't care if you are happy, sad, or celebrating.  They kill you either way.  Iraq has just turned into a front for the war against those people who had the same beliefs as those who rammed airplanes into New York and the Pentagon.  Most of al Qaida in Irag are foreign fighters being supplied by countries that we would probably be at war with right now if not Iraq whether Bush was in office or not.

The war in Iraq had stretched it's limits and sadly involved the lives of our troops unnecessarily.  I am all for democracy, but this is a waste to the lives of those who are battling this war that's not even ours.  Iraqis seem to live to kill each other, and maybe we should let them be.  In their culture, they have taught violence to everyone and anyone capable of holding a weapon no matter how young they could be.  Eventually, they will erase their civilization, and we'll just start from there.  

Football(soccer)is the world sport that unite people, I'am glad Iraq people were united for a moment and I hope will be this saturday when they can be champions.
Thanks Football.

911 We lost over 3000 lives. We go to war. We lose over 3000 more and counting. Nothing is resolved. Terrorism is a two way street. We shoot them, they shoot us, until one or the other runs out of ammo. Then knives, rocks, sticks, anything to kill a human being will be used. Humans will kill humans as long as they have a brain capable of being washed by a human being mad enough to want to kill. Every country in the world has leaders that want to kill. And for what? Dirt. Every leader wants to control a little bit more of the Earth than they already do. The more land, the more people you can put on it. The more people you have to control, the more soldiers you will have to kill your enemies. And on and on and on and on and on and on.................BOOM We leave this world naked just the way we came in. So, in my humble opinion, the USA should get its ass out of Iraq, take care of the bullshit that needs tending right here, chill out for a few years and get the fricken car headed in the right direction again. The only way to do that is to elect someone to the White House that has more common sense than money.

The Arab World, is full of great people, else how could they survive as a people for so many years.

Islam, is a great religion, else how could so many people embrace it so fervently for so many years.

It's time for this greatness to step up, speak out, and stop this madness and aggression towards there own people and the rest of the human race.

everythink you said it's true , i was in Irbel at that time , I was waching the game on TV with my frinds in our company it was real moment of joy but without Gunfire in air , me with my friend's dance in the street's all the night . thank you for this article wishing you all the best .

Sorry, Christians, but your religion seems to me to be every bit as useless as you claim Islam is.  I don't see your god doing anything to improve this situation.  I thought your hero George Bush had his own pipeline to your lord.  Maybe he was wrong and maybe you're wrong to support him.

And I think if you look really close, you'll find amongst yourselves the same hatred, intolerance, bitterness and viciousness that you see in the so-called "Islamo-fascists" (that's another word Bush made up so, of course, it has no meaning).  While I agree the Iraqis have no chance to build a decent society with these kooks running roughshod over their country, you Christians have achieved the same in the US by your steadfast and obviously blind support of George Bush who erodes our rights daily.  You know what rights are, don't you?  They're what actually made our society and country the greatest on earth--a status we no longer enjoy--thanks to you.  

You talk of love and forgiveness but you are the very last people that will ever display it except to each other and even then that's pretty rare.

Admit it, for you this is as much a Holy War as it is jihad to the Islamic kooks.  Your refusal to give up on a war that is clearly lost has nothing to do with patriotism because you have none.  Your only allegiance is to your religion just as it is with the "Islamo-fascists."  You can't bear to lose because, in your minds, it would prove whose god is stronger and that just galls you, doesn't it?  Never mind what it's doing to our country and our brave soldiers--you could care less about that--just your god's pawns and pawns are meant to be wasted, right?  But rather than admit you are dead wrong, you blame anyone and everyone but yourselves.  It's all liberals and lefties and democrats who caused this, isn't that right?  It could not possibly have been the fault of George Bush who started it and all those who have supported and still support him--such as you.

No, Iraqis going out to a soccer game is far from proof that Bush/God's plan is working unless your god wanted it to end by horrible bloodshed of innocent people.  Was that your god's plan to?  No?  Then why didn't he stop it?  Maybe it's because he doesn't exist. Either that or your wise, compassionate god doesn't care.  Which is it?

The truth is, Iraqis have no choice but to go about their lives as best they can knowing full well that they may not live to see the end of the day or, if they do, that a loved one may not.  That's their reality--something you have no conception of because you are spoiled brats who grew up with Western privilege.  But instead of acknowledging that and demanding that the dictator you helped put in power (and I ain't talkin' 'bout Saddam) get off his dead ass and start doing things right, you point to a soccer game and say, "See, it's working" while ignoring the bloodshed that occurred at the very game you're talking about.  How much more easy, then, it must be for you to ignore the bloodshed outside the soccer stadium.  You're a real piece of work.  I hope you're proud of yourselves because the rest of us are ashamed to share this country with you.

Go ahead and whine out your responses about how unfair I am being to you and how I obviously don't know anything about Christianity (HAHAHA!).  I can't wait to read it.

Your good buddy,

Jorge the ex-Christian

I often wonder the ages of those who leave comments here about Iraq being a lost cause.  Castro took power in Cuba the year I was born, 1959.  Saddam was in power for nearly thirty years.  I try to imagine what five decades of being ruled by fear would do to me.  Could I just be freed one day after 50 years of oppression and be off to the mall?  Could I just pick up and move at lighting speed to be like Americans?  Of course not.  I wouldn't know where to even begin.  Perhaps with a game of soccer and any simple step towards a "normal" life.  If only I knew what a normal life was.  
All of you who sit there in your air conditioned dining rooms eating your boring cornflakes and spewing your "overstuffed arm chair" opinions should ponder walking a mile in their shoes over and over for 30 to 50 years before you label them all as a worthless cause.  It will take more than five years.  It will take the babes there who now live in freedom. Who with our help will never know anything else but freedom. To those that much is given, much is expected America.  What you do for the least of these so have you have done for me.  Try to show a little more heart, that is if you can find it.
Good work Iraq and good luck in your games.

My heart goes out to all Arabs. The pain, sorrow and sadness of having to live day to day without family members (car bombings), high heat (no electricity), no jobs (no food), homes bombed (by both sides), media who do not help (showing good things happening) and fear of walking down the street (terrorists road bombs, car bombs, sniper bullets).. we ALL forget living in America how utterly TERRIBLE this way of life is. To simply make it from day to day is a great act of courage. We must congratulate and praise these simple families for the way they are surviving in the middle of war zone. Ask a survivor of WW11 how living in Europe was during this time and many will tell you that what today brings in Iraq is much, much worse. Let's take politics OUT of the comments and start looking at HOW people are trying to survive (and without food) so we can open our hearts and to their plight so we can recognize their courage,praise it and this will acknowledge what they are feeling and give them more personal courage to change things. If we do not recognize this simple statement, anger, hatred and fear will continue and build upon by all the injured parties...we have only begun to build terrorists from people who are angry for their living conditions, no matter who started the cruel acts. So, praise the things going right...new hospitals, new schools, new government, winning soccer team, etc. and keep the good news in the forefront so all can see that with their help, life can and will get better. When you show someone a prize they want, they will do most anything to get it.... why not start showing what the prize of democracy will get them... celebrating in the streets after a win, etc.

If we are going to win the war on terror, it will be at least partly because of the barbarism of our enemies. The recent Pew report shows that public support for suicide bombings has decreased sharply in almost all Muslim countries, and idiotic cruelty like these soccer bombings is the reason why. Those who cheered after 9/11 are seeing Al Quaeda's true colors, and they don't like what they see.

KUDOS to the Iraq soccer team!  Congratulations!!!  Don't let go of that awesome feeling -- VICTORY!

I agree wholeheartedly with David Milliken.  What's more, throwing stones (namecalling) and religion-bashing produces nothing but hatred, so just stop!!  Like Cowboy Bob used to say on morning cartoons:  "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."  

I wish the people of Iraq peace to their homeland. Congratulations on their win and they deserve happiness as well.  For those blaming any God for what is going on the world is wrong, it is our free will as human beings that has brought all the wrong in this world, instead of blaming how about we all take a moment each day to pray and humble ourselves enough to see the good in others instead of the differences or thinking that we are better than others. The people of Iraq are not all bad, just like anywhere there are good and bad people all over and in all colors and religions.  I pray that this deadly war ends so fathers and mothers don't have to bury any more children.

Alright!  I hear all the "pray for them", "it's their God", "it's our God".  
Take God out of it, what about common sense?  Is there one religion that condones merciless killings of one's own people?  Of course not, if dying were so great none of us would be blogging.  
Enough w/ religion!  It's claimed more lives than it's saved, this I guarantee!  Common sense, my fellow bloggers, is the key to peace!  And to the Christian faithful, the Golden Rule can suffice as well when you treat others as you would want to be treated.  "Religion is opium for the masses" -K. Marx

Do any of my fellow Americans recall how our whole country became helpless in dealing with the Uni Bomber here?  If so, then multiply that times several hundred and then you may begin to understand what we and our Iraqi friends are up against over there.  It seem clear to me that the terrorist plan for winning is to get one group to hate another and then sit back and let each group kill each other.  It’s only a matter of time before they are able to find some small group of a minority here to set off a bomb and begin there sick plan here.  Seeing how Democrats and Republicans won’t even come together to fight as one, it’s seems very clear to me.    

Cut and Run,  Stay and Fight,  Whose right and whose wrong?

Lets have this decided democratically by the people who will be most affected by the outcome,  the citizens of Iraq.

Was the last vote there a one off?
Is there never going to be another vote there?

If the citizens of Iraq ask us to stay and help them fight the insurgents would there be anyone here opposed to that?

I bet we would rally and support all efforts to rid Iraq of thier foes.

But how do we know what is right?
How do we know what the people of Iraq really want from us?

Why is it our responsability to decide their fate?

Why can't we let them decide for themselves what to do next?

To the Iraqi people I say:

STICK THOSE THUMBS IN THE PURPLE DIE, TELL US WHAT YOU WANT AND WE WILL DO IT.  

WE BELEIVE IN DEMOCRACY!

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