Between 1 million and 2 million people gathered in Karbala yesterday for the conclusion of the Shia pilgrimage. The Independent of London is reporting the final prayers of the festival were different from the days that have gone before. Thousands of young men arrived from the cities of a de facto Shia confederacy which is already taking shape, demanded the establishment of an Islamic state and threatened jihad against American occupiers. In sermons, imam after imam called on Iraqis to take the destiny of the country into their own hands, and the Shia to take their rightful place in deciding how the country should be governed.