Sadr Caves Again
By California Yankee Posted in Basra | Iraq | Maliki | Sadr | War — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Sadr's Mahdi army offers to lay down its arms:
Iraq’s largest and most dangerous militia will voluntarily disband if Shia scholars advise its leader to do so, officials said yesterday — a dramatic move that could quell much of the fighting in the war-torn country.Aides to Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr said that he would send delegations to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a moderate religious leader in Najaf, and to senior clerics in Iran to consult on whether he should stand down his 60,000-strong al-Mahdi Army.
Yesterday, Iraq's prime minister, Nouri Maliki, told CNN that the Sadr's political movement would not be allowed to take part in elections unless it disbanded its militia:
A decision was taken. . . that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army and the unanimous decision agreed on by the political powers today. And this is the first time political powers dare say this -- the solution comes from dissolution, which means solving the problem comes in no other way other than dissolving the Mehdi Army. This is a very important point, this government, previous governments or coalition forces were not able to achieve any decisive victory the way it was achieved here, and the way it came out of the battle with full support from all different sides.
Rather than be excluded from the provincial elections scheduled for later this year, Sadr caved and is looking to save face by seeking the blessing of Sistani to stand down.
Read on, there's more.
This unfolding victory for the Government of Iraq is further evidence of just how wrong the mainstream media got it when they declared Sadr the victor in the recent Battle for Basra. Again, from Maliki's CNN interview:
ROBERTSON: Many people say that this has actually weakened you because it set back security in Basra, it set back security in Sadr City, that you've been obligated to the Iranian government for resolving this. This makes you weaker the critics say.AL-MALIKI: [Laughing] This is one of the issues that media outlets should look into thoroughly. Before we launched the operation in Basra, the ports were completely under the control of these militias, smuggling was a routine, burglary and looting were also ongoing. Now Basra is back as a city under the control of the state, and its inhabitants are optimistic now about what the state can do for them. Now and for the first time Iraqis stand strong by their state after they saw the state take a decisive stand against this gang that is on cornered and on the run. These facts? The state came out with the maximum power, nationalism, popular and national support that expressed itself, and for the first time, the one who is cornered and defeated is this gang.
Don't forget it was Sadr, not Maliki, that called for a cease fire in Basra. The Maliki government did not agree to the terms for a truce that Sadr issued. Instead the Iraqi government called Sadr's order for his fighters to pull off the streets a "positive step," and continued its operations.
Sadr Caves Again 6 Comments (0 topical, 6 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
conservative and has been extremely welcoming of the US and work we are trying to get done there.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
...regard a truce as a victory, time to lick their wounds, recruit new fighters, plan new operations, resupply and refit.
The last time a victory was a victory was in WWII. When they declared Tarawa, Saipan, Pelieliu, or Iwo Jima secure, they were certain these islands were secure. They had counted and buried the bodies of the defenders. Once the defenders were under the ground there was zero chance for them to paricipate in a banzai attack or a nightime infiltration or an open daylight assault. Six feet of earthen fill saw to that. Did someboday say something about counting chickens before they had hatched?
And don't forget his evil twin bringing up Saladin.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
You can see in the actions of the warlord Islamic cleric types that their motivation is looking strong for the crowd. Sadr wants to save face, so he appeals to senior clerics. Really, it's a signal that he doesn't have the means to act militarily, and if these people want him dead they should tell him to keep fighting.
A man following his ideals doesn't ask what to do.
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Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
Sadr is a young guy who would like to take on the robes of his father, a respected writer on Iraqi and Islamic issues.
But Sadr's father was NEVER recognized by the Ullema, the ruling councils of religion in Iraq and elsewhere. Sadr's father was considered "too political" by the religious leaders.
Sadr would like to be the next Sistani, but he has neither the credentials nor wisdom. His offers to "lay down arms" are no more than an attempt to achieve credence as a cleric, not a bully. Save an assassination, he will never achieve the former ... he IS the latter.
I suspect that they will only be publicly disbanded.
I don't trust Sadr as far as I can throw him.
Fighting for conservatism one day at a time.