Is Sistani in bed with bush ??

[welshTerrier2]

the U.S. has a long, a very long, history of picking a peck of pickled puppets ... just look at U.S. history in Iraq and Iran ... we backed Saddam Hussein ... who can ever forget that heart-warming photo of Saddam shaking hands with our very own Donnie Rumsfeld ... and, of course, we also pulled a few strings for that wild and crazy Shah of Iran ... he was truly a swell guy ...

so what about Sistani?? did the U.S. so badly miscalculate that they actually believed the Shia majority would not "win" the election? did they reason that democracy is so cool we didn't care who wins? does anyone actually believe bush thought the Shia parties and candidates would not dominate the election?

it's clear bush was seeking an Iraq that allowed the U.S. to remain ... he knew the U.S. would not be asked to leave after the election ... he even offered to withdraw if the newly formed Iraqi government asked the U.S. to leave ... what a guy ... he knew in advance who would win the elections and he knew we would not be asked to leave ... otherwise, he wouldn't have offered ...

but what about Sistani? why would he jump into bed with an asshole like bush? the only thing i can see is that bush guaranteed Sistani that he would allow the Shia to govern and would guarantee that elections would take place ...

and guess who will be the new Iraqi PM? if you guessed it would be someone the U.S. hand-picked all along it looks like you would be right ... check out these two stories and see if you think the above understandings fit the facts:

source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=8&u=/nm/20050222/ts_nm/iraq_dc

Iraq's main Shi'ite alliance proposed Ibrahim al-Jaafari for prime minister Tuesday, signaling the soft-spoken doctor will almost certainly get the job after the alliance's success in last month's election. <skip>

Jaafari, a physician and father of five, was a member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council that ran Iraq after the 2003 war.

source: http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=6225

Iraq's highest-ranking Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, yesterday flew into London at short notice for heart treatment as fierce battles raged in his home town, Najaf. <skip>

An aide told the Guardian the ayatollah, who has no history of heart problems, would not go straight to hospital but would probably spend a couple of days seeing doctors. His plans had not, however, been finalised. <skip>

This gave rise to questions in Baghdad yesterday about the reason for his sudden departure and the urgency of his need for medical treatment.

But a source at al-Khoei Foundation, a London-based Shia organisation, suggested that if the ayatollah had been looking for a pretext to leave Najaf he would not have chosen Britain, which is politically embarrassing for him.

"His people made it known that he wanted to come to Britain," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "It's essentially a private medical visit. There will be no political talks." <skip>

Notice how defensive everyone seems to be about his reason for going to London.

[King Coal]

1. No, that would be Gannon. Sistani is in Iraq.

:smoke:

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. hey! i was going to say that! n/t

[MADem]

3. If he's in bed with the chimp...

...the chimp is about to get the screwing of his life.

Sistani is an old man, he has put up with an enormous amount of shit in his lifetime, and he knows how to play the game. In a card game, I'd bet on Sistani having a few aces up his sleeves, in his turban, and hidden in his beard. Don't underestimate him, he is a survivor. They'd have had to kill him in London to shut him down, and then his boyz would have gone nuts. Whatever may have happened there, it worked out to Sistani's satisfaction.

So long as he lives, he's in the catbird seat.

[paulk]

4. I doubt it

Sistani has been playing Bush like a fiddle.

Jaafari is head of one of the largest political parties in Iraq, so being appointed by the US doesn't mean he's a puppet -

Sistani may have actually had heart problems - he is pretty old. On the other hand, he left just in time for al Sadr's Najef uprising - putting himself in the position of letting Sadr put pressure on the Americans while not having to take sides. Then he rode in to save the day - reaffirming his position as the most powerful figure in Iraq.

Sistani forced these elections to happen - he's the one who's been pulling strings on Bush - not the other way around.

[cliss]

5. Welsh, you are a Blue-ribbon writer.....

witty, funny.....when I read the tag line, I just couldn't resist:smoke:

Just imagine, if you will, the most holy man in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani (even the name itself invokes reverence), with that two-fisted vine-swinging, banana-eating Cro-Magnon named George "BeelzeBush".

Not in this lifetime. I think sea urchins have more ethics than BeetleBrain.:hangover:

I have read that Al-Sistani has adamantly refused to speak with the Americans since they occupied Iraq. He has always used intermediaries.....HE was the one who insisted on national elections, and not Bush.

WE had to do things according to HIS terms, and not vice versa. And of couse, Al-Sistani, being the shrewd Ayatollah that he is, realized that this was the way they were going to get their majority, after such a long time.

[Disturbed]

7. al Sistani is a patient and wise man.

I feel that he does not want a civil war in Iraq and will do everything that he can do to bring stability to Iraq. He is the one that got al Sadr to back off and to call off the Insurrection. The Shi'ites have been mostly patient while a contingent of Sunni Ba'athists have been on a killing spree. Al Sistani is 82 and revered by most of the Shi'ites in Iraq, perhaps he has a large following in Iran, as well. I hope he live for another 15 years at least because he bring hope to the people of Iraq.

[cal04]

6. not so sure he's not

Just very odd how he all of a sudden disappeared until it was time to save Sadr)

Protesters set fire to Allawi's party offices

Thousands of Iraqis in the southern city of Nassiriya calling for the fall of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, have set fire to the local office of his political party.
The demonstrators are enraged by military action against Shiite rebels in the sacred city of Najaf. They have screamed: "Down, down Allawi" and "Allawi you coward, you American agent".

They have held up posters of Moqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shiite cleric whose militiamen have been challenging US and Iraqi forces in Najaf for seven straight days. Nassiriya is one of the seven cities where the Shiite uprising has erupted in the past week - the biggest challenge to Mr Allawi's interim Government since it took over from the US occupation authority in late June. The bloodiest fighting is taking place in Najaf, where US helicopter gunships and warplanes have pounded rebel positions. Any harm to holy sites in the city would enrage millions of Shiites in Iraq and other countries.

Meanwhile, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani hides out in London, where it becomes more apparent daily that he was removed from Najaf in order to allow the crushing of the Sadrist rebels. I cannot see how this wouldn't be interpreted as cowardice and collaboration with the Occupiers.

http://www.antiwar.com/blog/comments.php?id=1230_0_1_0_C