Sadr urges Iraqis for self-restraint

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Najaf, Sept 26 - Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr asked Iraqi people to avoid any clashes with occupiers and maintain their self-restraint.

Moqtada Sadr told IRIB reporter that resumption of clashes, amid a situation that we are preparing for holding "Yes" vote and elections, will bring instability to the country.

Meanwhile, a member of Moqtada Sadr's office in Najaf, Riadh Nouri said that the occuping forces are currently trying to push pro-Sadr Iraqi people into violence through the like of Basra incidents.

Moqtada Sadr has asked al-Mehdi Army to avoid any raid on occuping forces and urged the Iraqi government to settle Basra feuds.

IRIB

So why does someone want to provoke al Sadr, and why does he
want not to be provoked? Well, son-of-a-gun, al Sadr has formed
and alliance with the Sunni to vote down the new government charter.

For more than a year the vast majority of attacks on coalition forces have been carried out by Sunni insurgents. However Mr Sadr has formed an alliance with Sunnis to oppose the country's new constitution and his paramilitary Mehdi Army has been increasingly active against American and Iraqi government forces.

Independent

[enigma000]

1. Why would he want to clash with the coalition?

His army did so last year, and took heavy losses. al-Sadr is taking the political route for the moment - allying with like-minded Sunni. Regardless if the constitution passes or fails, I expect him to continue to position himself for a national roll.

I wonder if he will contest December's elections?

[bemildred]

2. Indeed, why would he?

But I was more interested in why the occupation seems to want
to pick a fight with him.

[enigma000]

3. Maybe they want to take Basra back

It seems Sadr loyalists control Basra and the Brits have not done anything at all to limit Iranian meddling.

Up until now the Iranians conservatives and pragmatics are siding with the SCIRI-Badr and Al-Da'wah organizations. But what if the Iranian hardliners, with their dominance over the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (Pasdarans) come out in support of Sadr and his constitutional rejectionist faction?

This could lead to Sadr being the dominant Shiite leader, overshadowing the more mainstream United Iraqi Alliance leaders(say Prime Minister Jaffari) This would certainly be a major shift in Shiite politics.

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4. I dunno, it's too complicated for me out here in TV land.

I know he was a quiet obedient fellow for most of a year, and
they left him alone in return, and now, in the runup to the
referendum on the government charter, we have his minions in
Basra being arrested leading to a big dustup, and an attempt to
"patrol" Sadr City again, leading to another dustup, and for the
first time I read he has made public, common cause with the Sunni
against the charter. It seems to me that if he told his followers
to vote no, that could cause the charter to lose.

It is true that he is a political opponent of the SCIRI group,
being an Iraqi nationalist rather than pro-Iranian, but I don't
see that that would lead the occupation to want to pick a fight
with him, whereas trying to prevent him from causing the charter to
fail offers some sort of logic. If the charter fails it's going
to be a really embarassing sort of "what do we do now" kind of
situation, and the whole theoretical process whereby we get to
drawdown our troops will be blown from the water.

[gratuitous]

16. Peace isn't profitable

As long as there are battles and skirmishes and soldiers and citizens dying, someone is going to be raking in the cash. If there are coalitions, and factions, parties and personalities all angling peaceably for their position in Iraq, Halliburton, Custer Battles, Bechtel and the rest of the war profiteers don't get paid.

And Unca Dick gots to get paid. So Mr. Sadr must be provoked.

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17. I think it's attempted intimidation, about the charter.

Not that I disagree with your comments in general.
The US government likes nothing better than a nice little
war somewhere or other.

[bemildred]

5. US military intensifies campaign of intimidation prior to Iraqi referendum

The US-led occupation forces in Iraq are widening the campaign of repression being carried out against sections of the population who are expected to vote “No” in the October 15 referendum called to ratify a draft constitution.

On September 25, for the first time in over a year, American and Iraqi government troops in Baghdad launched an attack on the Shiite supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the impoverished working class district of Sadr City.

A Sadr aide told the Los Angeles Times that both US and government troops had approached the home of a minor leader of the Shiite movement in the early hours of the morning and opened fire indiscriminately on the Mahdi Army militiamen guarding the area. Witnesses told the newspaper that the militiamen fired first, after their warnings to the occupation forces to leave were ignored.

The US military claimed that government troops attempting to detain three men suspected of involvement in a “kidnapping and torture cell” were ambushed and that American forces went to their assistance. Whatever the exact circumstances, a 90-minute gun battle took place between the local fighters and the US and government forces. According to the Sadrists, four people were killed, including a child, and 15 wounded.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/iraq-s28.shtml

[plasticsundance]

6. Sadr is gaining support...

Especially among new recruits. Sadr is seen as the one that has the cajones to confront the occupation. Although Sistani is still powerful with political muscle, Sadr's military strength is becoming a force again. Coupled with this, is the fact that Sadr will now align with the Sunnis in a pitch for nationalism over federalism. Sistani appears to have conceded on the issue of federalism.

Sadr's gaining military muscle and his joining along side the Sunnis are the two reasons why the US is cracking down once again on Sadr and his forces. Meanwhile, Sadr will not confront the US ... directly ... but in the battle of Iraq public opinion, Sadr will form a bases for uniting Iraqis.


While isolating the US as the aggressor, Sadr can then at the same time appeal for national sovereignty over federalism; thereby, gaining a greater role and influence in Iraq. Brilliant move. Sun Tzu would be proud.

[plasticsundance]

7. Just as an addition

Sadr can also claim that without Sunni support for the new government, a long protracted civil war that no Iraqi wants will nevertheless be inevitable; thereby, isolating Shia's that support federalism.

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8. I'm a bit worried we will see al Sadr and the Sunni duking it out

with the Peshmergas and Badr Brigades. But first I
expect we will have a lot of games about the vote on
the new charter.

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9. Opposition to Iraqi constitution weakening

Rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's representatives said that while he's not thrilled about the constitution, he likely wouldn't encourage his followers to oppose it.

Hazem al-Araji, a senior al-Sadr aide, said that al-Sadr has formed a committee to review the document and that once he hears from them he'll make a final decision.

---

The largest Sunni political group, the Iraqi Islamic Party, said that although it has encouraged its supporters to vote down the document, its efforts are focused on the December election for a new National Assembly.

"There are powers that will make sure this bad constitution passes," said Ala'a al-Maki, a party spokesman. "We are focusing more on ensuring the Sunnis participate in the next election."

Knight-Ridder

[plasticsundance]

10. In response to your last two posts

If the Kurds are seen by Sadr, as they're already seen by the Sunnis, as taking an intransigent position, there'll indeed be trouble. The Sunnis are already aware that Saddam had offered the Kurds semi-autonomy, as long as the Kurds provided a provision that still made them answer to the presidency.

The title of the article you posted is more than just misleading, since it does not identify of represent what is stated in the text of the article.

"There are powers that will make sure this bad constitution passes," said Ala'a al-Maki, a party spokesman. "We are focusing more on ensuring the Sunnis participate in the next election."

It's all a matter of buying time. I do not believe the Shi'ites and Sunnis will allow for the kind of autonomy that the Kurds will ultimately demand. Even if they do, both Iran and Turkey will not be happy about the Kurd autonomy.

Make no mistake, the US sees Sadr as a threat. They've already attacked his force days ago, and then had to issue an apology, so now they're trying to assassinate Sadr, or at least send a very strong message.

BAGHDAD, Sept. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- One bodyguard of Shiite clericMuqtada al-Sadr was killed when a bomb exploded in his house in Najaf on Wednesday, police said.

"The explosion occurred at around 7:10 p.m. (1510 GMT) in Najaf,160 km south of Baghdad. One family member of the bodyguard was also killed," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

On Sunday, at least eight followers of al-Sadr were killed whenhis Mehdi Army clashed with US troops in Sadr City, east of Baghdad. Enditem

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-09/29/content_3560338.htm">Sadr's bodyguard killed in Najaf bombing

Ultimately, it comes down to implementation, and all parties involved in the constitution are just biding their time until that process comes to fruition.

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12. I concur. I found those comments interesting too.

I'm used to bullshit headlines and don't usually pay
much attention to them. The Western Media make a habit of
writing "hopeful" headlines.

I do think that it is a serious matter if the charter fails,
and it is at least possible that things will get quite ugly in
the next couple weeks, and that the Iraqi nationalists, whatever
they say, will do what they can to defeat it, and the occupation
and its minions will do all that they can to rig the result.
But we will have to wait and see.

We have an attack on a couple Sunni leaders today:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1814061

I have not gone through the other Iraq news yet.

[plasticsundance]

14. I meant no offense

I apologize if I came off sounding abrupt of abrasive. I know one of the rules in the Late Breaking is that one has to use the headline.

The Western Media also likes to bury the most important and significant items in an article near the end of the last two paragraphs.

We will have to see in the coming weeks how the parties involved in the Iraq constitution learn to compromise. I think it will take a very long time before the US realizes it cannot hoist a government on a sovereign nation.

[bemildred]

15. None taken. I understand your point, it's just habitual with me to

post things as written and then criticize if I feel
like it. I figure people that share my interests will
read it all.

[GayCanuck]

11. If

and when the US pulls its illegal gang out of Iraq; the Iran/Iraq war will look like a church picnic. Civil war, thanks to your unelected commander in chimp is inevitable.

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13. Iraqi opposition leaders are under attack - by American-trained militias.

By Robert Dreyfuss

Negroponte? Is that you?

Despite U.S. lip service to a negotiated deal, Sunni opposition leaders are under attack - by American-trained militias.
A leading Iraqi voice in favor of a negotiated power-sharing arrangement between Sunni and Shiite forces in Iraq charged this weekend that militias in the service of the U.S.-backed Iraqi government in Baghdad tried to kill him, former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, and other secular Iraqi nationalists by planting a car bomb in the Baghdad neighborhood where they live.

Aiham Al Sammarae, a former minister of electricity in Allawi’s government, says that the bomb was discovered and defused. “I live next door to Allawi,” says Sammarae, who returned to Iraq from a conference of leading Iraqi Sunnis in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. “We found a car bomb behind Allawi’s house. It would have destroyed the entire neighborhood.” According to Sammarae, who spoke to me in a lengthy telephone interview from a hotel in Amman, militias tied to the Iraqi government are conducting death squad-style attacks against Sunnis who oppose the Iraqi regime, which is controlled by a pair of ultra-religious, sectarian parties. “A lot of our guys are being killed,” he says. The attacks are being carried out “by the government, by militias that are part of the government.”

For the past several months, Sammarae has tried to coax various Iraqi resistance groups, mostly Sunni, to embrace talks with the United States over a ceasefire and U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. At least eleven of the mainstream Iraqi opposition groups—including former Iraqi military officers, Baathists, and nationalist tribal leader, but not the jihadists tied to the Zarqawi-led Al Qaeda forces—have established links with Sammarae. Last week, Sammarae told me, he announced the executive committee of his National Assembly for the Unity and Reconstruction of Iraq, an organization of Sunni and Shiite oppositionists who want a negotiated end to the Iraqi insurgency. Leading the committee are Abdullah Al Dulaimi, from the Iraqi resistance, and Hussein Al Kalidar, a prominent Iraqi Shiite leader. “There are many other members,” said Sammarae. “I am the spokesman.”

But, within days of the announcement, Abdullah Al Dulaimi vanished. “He is the head of the movement, and after one week, he disappeared,” says Sammarae. “I don’t know if he is scared and went underground, or if picked him up. We cannot talk with him. We cannot contact him.”

http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=11851&TagID=2