In a move designed to prevent future enemy attacks, the city councils of Washington D.C. and New York City today unanimously approved resolutions declaring both metropolitan areas "Muslim holy cities like Najaf, Kufa and Karbala in Iraq."

The idea for the designation came after weeks of media reports indicating that U.S.-led Coalition forces are reluctant to arrest or retaliate against alleged-murderer and militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr because he hides in Najaf, a Muslim holy city.

"If we had realized that being a Muslim holy city puts you off limits for attack, 9/11 would never have happened," said the city councils in a rare joint-resolution. "We encourage other major American cities to follow our example and change their official designations from ’soft target’ to ’Muslim holy city’."