Shi'ites raise new battle cry (Asia Times)

[Aries]

Aug 5, 2003

Shi'ites raise new battle cry
By Hooman Peimani

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH05Ak04.html

Contrary to US hopes, the killing of Saddam Hussein's sons has not helped curb attacks on the US troops occupying Iraq. The Americans therefore should be concerned about a seeming increase in such attacks, which they attribute to "pro-Saddam forces". However, the growing radicalization of Iraqi Shi'ites, as reflected in the creation of the "army of al-Mahdi", heralds the widening of the anti-occupation movement beyond the expectations of the US government.

Last Thursday, about 10,000 young men reportedly showed up in the holy city of Najaf to join the "army of al-Mahdi". The volunteers had responded to a request by Muqtada al-Sadr, a 30-year-old anti-American cleric with an expanding following among the dissatisfied Iraqi Shi'ites. The cleric has been trying to establish himself as the leader of the Iraqi Shi'ites since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime...


...As spelled out by its leader, al-Sadr, the army of al-Mahdi will aim at forcing US troops out of Iraq. On many occasions, he has clearly demanded the end of the US occupation of Iraq as a first step to give Iraqis an opportunity to choose their desired political system, which he wants to be an Islamic republic.

The army of al-Mahdi is yet to become a military force to reckon with. Given the growing opposition among the Iraqis, including the Shi'ites, who account for 60 percent of the population, there seems to be no shortage of recruits for this army. In addition to those who showed up in Najaf, about 1,000 people from Baghdad's poor neighborhood of Saddam City, now renamed al-Sadr City, responded to al-Sadr's call.

As for training and weapons, it is not clear how the volunteers can be trained and armed given the US concern about al-Sadr's followers. Sheikh Aws al-Khafaji, al-Sadr's spokesman, refused to comment on these issues and confined himself to stating: "I can't say what weapons the army will have." However, he added, "It will not fight with sticks, and it is not just a large crowd of protesters. It is an army."....

[scarletwoman]

1. Organized armed revolt against the occupiers....

It's inevitable.... What a mess....

sw