By:
John Amato on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 6:00 PM - PDT
With Iraq about to blow wide open, al-Sadr stepped in again.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday ordered his fighters off the streets nationwide and called on the government to stop raids against his followers and free them from prison. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a statement calling the order “a step in the right direction” towards resolving six days of violence sparked by operations against al-Sadr’s backers in the oil-rich southern city of Basra.
But al-Maliki also acknowledged Saturday that he may have miscalculated by failing to foresee the strong backlash the offensive would provoke in Baghdad and other cities where Shiite militias wield power…read on
So who’s in charge of Iraq at this point?
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DUDE!!!
Oh and i dont know if my other post took but id like to wish you all a good evening and a good night and a even better tomorow as well.
Thanks again the online magazine ;)
Best regards,,
Vietraq.
Sadr ordered a stand down, at least until the last duffel bag of cash is delivered. It’s important that this operation goes “well”, and if you can’t beat ‘em, pay ‘em off and pretend like government troops actually feel like fighting their brothers under the same occupiers, only on different teams. For the moment.
Friar Tuck @ 1:
Wheres the Taxpayers $300 million ?
Fine. Lets say Malika got what he wanted and Sadr got what he wanted and we can get the Hell out of there!
“So who’s in charge of Iraq at this point?”
George W. Bush?.. Joking, I’m just joking.
odanny @ 3:
If Bushco pays Shia team B to stop them fighting Shia team A, and keeps on ignoring and saying ‘checks in the mail’ to Sunni team B, I think the problem will not go away. Sometime soon team A and team B are going to get medieval on each other. Not sure what teams C and D are going to do, prob pout and cry.
No one is in charge. That’s what happens in a civil war. It’s like a boxing match–you have two opponents go at each other and a referee trying to control both of them. For most of the action the ref can control things, but they can get out of control in an instant. I’ve seen many a referee get knocked out cold by a boxer.
The US is Mills Lane; Iraq is Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Mike’s about to bite Evander’s ear and go after Mills.
SteveK @ 6:
hes barely in charge of his wrong way opening closet door.
al-Sadr sounds like he has a well-regulated militia as envisioned by the U.S. 2nd amendment, not “insurgents” nor “terrorists”.
Not sure how to share this on other formats, but since I like this blog I am planting it here. Please forgive the intrusion, but you might be interested in it anyway. It’s an interesting profile about the G-Ma of Barack Obama from the local Sunday paper.
[Molly, feel free to drop this in an open thread, or a thread about Senator Obama, when it’s topical-Sitemonitor]
Mahalo,
Molly
the iraqis.
can we have an open thread? I want to discuss the Texas caucus’ that had their second round this weekend. It was a disgusting experience. Any other Texan’s out there that feel Disenfranchised? I say bring on the super delegates b/c votes do not matter anyway.
“Steps back in”?
I don’t think he ever stepped out- but he did step back for a bit.
“So who’s in charge of Iraq at this point?”
Lol, who else but the military industrial mediatainment congressional complex. oh btw, as long as one rifle fires, one bomb goes off, one stock rises in value…then all is well in Iraq.
‘
wtf…i love this blog but sometimes you guys sound like the MsM. if you think for one minute than our troops are going anywhere (besides a body bag or a hospital) you are INSANE!!!!!
The 2006 midterm proves that no matter what happens, the transfer of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the wealthy industrialists and their minions will continue.
And who is turning the handle on the meatgrinder? Pelosi, Reid, Obama, Clinton, Webb and ANYONE who has supported the funding of this conflict!!!
Whose in charge? as Sadr of course.
George Bush, right??? ‘Cause Rummy reatired and Cheney is busy planning how to attack Iran.
Maybe the Canadiens?
And by that I mean the hockey team.
[/West Wing reference]
You mean it’s not you?
Who’s in charge? Al Haig, of course.
Bruce @ 10:
I agree. I am getting the impression that al-Sadr is not the lawless villan that he is portrayed to be in the press…even Bill Maher seems a bit too scared of him. al-Sadr might yet prove to be the uniter that Bush can only dream of being….
Trekkie @ 17:
stupid mainstream media sitcom refernces to such an important topic?
most americans can only speak in the dialect of commericals and sitcoms. ideas and thought that derive from books, learning inspired conversation are
looked at as inappropriate to Americans who whistle jingles in their sleep and name their kids Lexus and Forbes!!
Too bad the Bush administration doesn’t have the foresight to realize how much shit our forces will be in if he orders an attack on Iran. The Brits were wise enough to pull out of the Shia controlled areas. Of course, if all one cares about is driving the price of oil as high as possible, so the US oil companies can make a killing from the oil they pump from our public property, attacking Iran makes perfect sense.
I heard from family members what a success the surge was. Then again, most of them don’t even read the paper. They watch Faux News and call themselves patriots and informed. I call them nuts.
Gilliard predicted this, totally.
RIP.
sniff.
AC Wilco @ 20:
Yup, no doubt. He’s been demonized for being his country’s George Washington against Her Majesty’s occupiers
This is why any claim of progress by the surge is garbage. All al-Sadr needs to do is give the order for his followers to start shooting and we’re back to square one. Proof of who really rules Iraq.
Isn’t it a little silly by now for the Iraqi government to be making any ultimatums?
It’s no surprise that Al-Sadr took it as a double-dare.
marko @ 21:
Jeez, what bug crawled up your butt and died?
I mean, how is my comment offensive and everyone else’s not? Or does the fact that I quoted a TV show mean I’m a drooling idiot? If so, wow way to generalize.
If Al-Sadr is George Washington, then Jeff Dahmer is Abraham Lincoln.
Like one of the great the lines from Apocalypse Now:
“Whose in charge here?
“I thought you was.”
I thought the surge was working. You mean there are still unresolved issues, and Iraq isn’t a peacful democracy in the heart of the Middle East? I’ll be the American taxpayers will rise up, and demand some accountability. Nah.
VICTORY!
he’s proven his point. he is in control and can unleash the violence or calm it at will making bush/cheney look like the idiots they are.
Doesn’t this mean that it’s time for Lieberman and McCain to claim VICTORY in Iraq… and send all of our troops into Iran?
CowboyBob in Austin @ 35:
defanetly wtfs the hold up? times a wasteing!!!!1
Otay @ 30:
Ummm………No.
odanny @ 37:
Unless you are Elizabeth Hasselbeck, then maybe
Its probably a net win for malki. Having a cease-fire just after US jets are reported to be hitting safe houses makes Al Sadr seem weak. I saw a report on CNN a few days ago that most of his best commanders and men have been siphoned off for iranian use anyway. He’s not the same power that he was a few years ago and this makes him look even shakier.
I think its a narrow win for the iraqi government, such as it is.
There are competing militias in Basra, the Mahdi Army is only one powerful militia, there are quite a few others, and they are competing for control.
What the government wants means little, its American air power that has the final say.
The Iraqi Army can ill afford a pyhrric victory in Basra, to say nothing of the U.S. that is backing it.
But who is in control of the crude is not fully settled yet and wont be anytime soon, cease fire or not.
Tom (Not Tom) @ 19:
Nice one!
marko @ 14:
I notice you named everyone except the primary ones responsible; the Bush Administration, the republican congress and the democratic Bush lapdogs, the MIC controlled by the most conservative elements of our society, the American Israeli lobby, the corporate ran fourth estate and finally the complacent American population.
“So who’s in charge of Iraq at this point?” No one really. Is that not the history of the entire region? Continuous fighting among tribal leaders until a strong despotic leader comes along to unite a large number of various factions. I seem to remember reading that leaving SH in power was a conscience decision by Bush I. Even though he was generally despised, he served a larger purpose; he maintained stability among the groups who are at war with each other right now. What is interesting, and well known to many of the readers here, SH is branded as a ruthless, brutal dictator (all true), but he is little different than Saudi monarchy and Shah of Iraq. Yet both are, or were, no less ruthless than SH.
This is why we will continue to chase doomed strategies for winning the war in Iraq. People paint similarities between Vietnam and Iraq. I am a Vietnam combat veteran and I saw the same deceptions of 2002-2003, which led us into war in the 1960’s. It was too obvious to allow me to pat my back. For the life of me, I simply cannot understand why a veteran like McCain has completely missed the boat on this.
odanny @ 38:
I would say rounding people up off of the street and then torturing them and dumping them is closer to Jeff Dahmer then it is to either George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.
There’s an excellent Op-Ed in the NYTimes about the growing conflict between Iraq’s Shiite groups. The Badr Organization, The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq’s militia, has not been targeted by the Iraqi government because the Supreme Council is allied with al-Maliki’s Dawa party.
Maliki tested the waters.
Too hot.
I knew the surge was working. If it wasn’t, al Sadr would be attacking Poland by now.
Al-Sadr IS “The Surge”.
Maybe the Federal Reserve will bail out Maliki too.
The fact is, it was not the Iraqi goverment or the American government that had the “power and influence” to get al-Sadr to call a conditional cease fire. It was the IRANIAN GOVERNMENT who called for hostilities to end on Saturday and conducted negotiations with al-Sadr in which he agreed to call for a conditional cease fire Sunday. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and George W. Bush were losing in Basra as al-Sadr’s Mahdi army now controls approximately 75% of Basra’s neighborhoods. Mahdi Army forces were not defeated by the combined military forces of Iraq, England and the United States. They were convinced to stop hostilities and hold in place by their brothers from IRAN. And al-Sadr didn’t surrender anything that he’d gained. He actually set many conditions that must be met in order for the cease fire to be maintained. Al-Sadr is calling the shots and in effect saving al-Maliki’s and Bush’s impotent asses because IRAN asked him to.
Exercise of such influence and power is proof that IRAN could cause TOTAL CHAOS in Iraq if they desired it through the person of Muqtada al-Sadr, and they have just let the Iraqi, British and U.S. governments, and everyone else in the Middle East and the world, know just how influential and powerful IRAN is in IRAQ.
P.D. @ 24:
Yes, the protectors of your rights and their families are nuts… Nice sentiment there…
odanny @ 3:
i’m very interested to hear more about the “duffel bags of cash” given to sadr and company. could bush have our blood and treasure involved in “extortion” so he can keep haliburtion building it’s costly iraqi mutiple military bases? Is it legal for our president to be involved in extortion? Is this an impeachable crime?