Sadr Surges in Iraq Vote

[sabra]

Source: WSJ

BAGHDAD--Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appears to have upended the traditional hierarchy of Shiite politics in Iraq with a stronger-than-expected showing in last Sunday's parliamentary vote.

Preliminary results for the country's 325-seat parliament have shown incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki narrowly leading his chief rival Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who has emerged as the preferred candidate for most of Iraq's Sunni voters. An alliance of Shiite religious parties that includes Mr. Sadr's looks set for a third-place finish.

But amid that Shiite alliance, early results show the Sadr party emerging as the dominant player. Though final results aren't expected until later this month, Sadr candidates look set to pick up over half of the seats from the Shiite slate, preliminary results indicate.

That could mean a more prominent role in Iraqi politics for a leader who has vacillated between political participation and armed struggle against U.S. and Iraqi forces. Mr. Sadr continues to publicly support the right to attack U.S. forces and refuses any contact with American or British officials. An empowered Sadr party will likely take a tough line on enforcing U.S. troop- withdrawal timelines and oppose any residual force the U.S. may want to leave behind.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575123372619044094.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond#articleTabs%3Darticle

[damntexdem]

1. Good.

Way past time to leave -- which was actually, oh, about February 2003. ;-)

[louis-t]

2. I believe that in 5 years, Iraq will look nothing like

the US-friendly democracy the bush regime envisioned. It will be either a Shiite theocracy aligned with Iran or a military dictatorship.

[LakeSamish706]

3. And still the a**holes that caused all of this are walking free amoung us. How shameful is that?

[elias49]

5. AND denying that they did anything wrong

it's like a bunch of pre-adolescents that start a fire that gets out of control. When they get caught, they blame the matches

[yava]

12. Its sad but I think like you

[Jennicut]

15. It is going to move closer and closer to Iran.

Exactly want we never wanted. Cheney was and always will be an idiot incapable of long term thinking.

[Botany]

4. mission accomplished

Sooner later grumpy mullahs with long beards and thoughts that the 1200s
were too progressive will make life a living hell for all women living in Iraq
and give safe harbor and a base to train anti western terrorists. And many
of those holy warriors will be the family members of victims of the U.S. war
in Iraq and the civil wars that were unleashed by operation Iraqi freedom.

That fuckhead bush did not know the difference between Shi ite and Sunni
less then 6 weeks before he lit the fuse to that bomb.

[jaysunb]

14. Amen...

:thumbsup:

[bamacrat]

16. Creepy. Notice how that picture positions him with the halo.

[Kolesar]

17. In mil-spec flat gray

for the zealous to get a military boner/beatific buzz

[WriteDown]

6. I thought Mookie was still in Iran? nt

[Tikki]

7. When those freep(k)s start talking about how grand IRAQ is now.....

Tell them you might listen to them when they...book a two week vacation for them and their family to
Baghdad and surrounding area and then actually go.


Tikki

[BunkerHill24]

8. WELL, I guess we freed the Iraqis to chose their own. n/t

[dipsydoodle]

9. ditto

and no sarcasm intended just an inevitable bi-product of poking your nose in where its not necessarily welcome.

[bamacrat]

18. And once they do, the MIC will find a way to justify regime change again.

I have a feeling that no matter what they choose our military minds will not like it.

[bemildred]

10. It's just amazing how often these expecters we have are wrong.

It's like they are not really experts at all.

It is fascinating to be told that there is a "traditional" shiite politics in Iraq too. How long has that been going on anyway?

[Solly Mack]

11. k/r

[New Dawn]

13. K&R - USA needs to withdraw 100% from Iraq (no troops, "contractors" or "oil deals")!

And war crimes trials for all civilian political figures that voted for this illegal war of aggression, which murdered 1.3 million Iraqis.

[miyazaki]

19. no need to ask he's a smooth operator. n/t

[grantcart]

20. I predict that he will unite the Shiite and secular parties

coalition politics are a funny thing

wild cards like Sadr are usually not trusted to be part of the working coalition and end up marginalized.