“Well of Disappearance”—the cave where the twelfth
Imam had descended and disappeared from the world, to
remain hidden until his return.
That cave was the real target of the attack. Attack the
shrine of Hussein at Karbala, as has been done many
times over the centuries, most notably in living memory
by Saddam Hussein’s troops, and you attack the heart of
Shia Islam. Attack Ali’s shrine in Najaf, as was done
when American troops tried to oust the Mahdi Army
from it in 2004, and you attack its soul. But attack the
Askariya shrine in Samarra, and you commit something
even worse: you attack the Mahdi and thus the core of
Shia hope and identity. The destruction of the Askariya
shrine was an attack not just on the past, or even the
present, but on the future.