Iraqi Cleric Calls for New Uprising

[joefree1]

Iraqi Cleric Calls for New Uprising
Challiss McDonough
Baghdad
05 Aug 2004, 18:44 UTC

The radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called on his followers in Iraq to rise up and fight U.S. troops. The message comes as clashes broke out in at least three cities between his supporters and U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

The message went out at midday in the mosques of the impoverished Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, named after the firebrand cleric's esteemed father. Moqtada al-Sadr's representatives said the truce between his followers and the U.S. military is over.

By then, it was already obvious. Heavy fighting had broken out in the holy city of Najaf, about 120 kilometers south of Baghdad. Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter. The military says the crew members, who were wounded, were rescued. Outside of Najaf, a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a military convoy killed one U.S. soldier and wounded five.

More ...
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=4953A1FD-6908-419C-8CE28BB839A99DBC
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[bluestateguy]

1. I would remind people of one thing

The last time al Sadr called for an unprising was around April 1st. During April and May we lost over 200 Soldiers and Marines.

[yellowcanine]

2. This is not good news. Dang - we have to get Bush and his warmongers out.

It will not be easy for Kerry to put the pieces back together but at least he has learned from the mistakes of the neocons and has a hope of finding a more viable path out. The neocons don't even admit that they have screwed up.

[joefree1]

4. Thanks a lot Republicans

Bush can't get any International help because he's pissed everybody off, however Kerry might have a hard time getting any help because Iraq has become such a huge disaster.

[hlthe2b]

3. Damn....

I wonder if any US press will report this? I can not believe(actually I don't WANT to believe) that the press has SO forgotten Iraq in their current coverage...

[JNelson6563]

5. Uh-oh.

This can't be good. :scared:

[Kagemusha]

6. They really thought Sadr would let them grab him this easy?

US troops approached his house on the weekend/Monday and then on Wednesday. The first time they said it was a mistake (not knowing the area). Bah. They just tried to pull a fast one.

This is the result.

[Zynx]

7. He was just regrouping.

[finecraft]

8. There may be more going on here

There was an article last week that said everyone's favorite backstabber Ahmed Chalabi was joining forces with al-Sadr. If that article was true, and Chalabi worked out a deal with his friends the Iranians, this could be the mother of all coups coming up. I also read that another cleric called for an uprising against the British in the south. If Chalabi has any connection to that cleric, things will go to hell in a handbag very quickly.

[psychopomp]

11. Is this the article?

Chalabi, Spurned by US, Builds New Alliances

Edmund Blair

Reuters, Arab News

BAGHDAD, 1 August 2004 — Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, the former exile once better connected in Washington’s corridors of power than the back streets of Baghdad, is building new, unexpected alliances. The US administration may have spurned its one-time ally, but Chalabi has found a new voice defending Iraq’s downtrodden Shi'a and speaks in respectful terms about one of Washington’s fiercest critics - Shi'i cleric Moqtada Sadr.

“(Sadr) is a man who has a strong influence on a very large number of the people in Iraq who are dispossessed and he certainly has a role to play in the process that will be coming,” Chalabi told Reuters in an interview late on Friday.

He said Sadr supporters were among those who had joined the Shi'i Political Council, a grouping Chalabi helped set up to fight for the rights of Shiites, who were persecuted by Saddam Hussein and who are still among the poorest in Iraqi society.

-more

< http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2004%20News%20archives/August/1%20n/Chalabi,%20Spurned%20by%20US,%20Builds%20New%20Alliances.htm >

I think that more than Chalabi (and therefore, possibly Iran) al-Sistani would still be the person to look to to gauge which way the wind is blowing. al-Sistani is the one who can turn Iraq's majority against the foreign presence in Iraq.

[finecraft]

12. Not the exact article, but close enough

Same general information. Chalabi has had a close relationship with al-Sistani for quite a while, and its not a good sign that he is cozying up with Sadr. Chalabi doesn't do anything unless he can get something out of it. If anyone could get al-Sistani and Sadr on the same page, I'd bet money that it would be Chalabi. And want does Chalabi want more than anything else???? To be the "ruler" of Iraq. This nutcase thinks he was destined to rule Iraq and is extremely bitter about how the Bush cabal dumped him. It would serve his purpose to unite al-Sistani and Sadr to:
1. Orchestrate as violent an uprising as possible to "drive the infidels out of Iraq" in one giant bloodbath to totally humiliate his ex Washington friends
2. Iran is nervous about the "new" Iraqi government that seems more intent on becoming good buddies with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and by having Chalabi in some governmental position of power in Iraq, Iran would be assured to have an ally in keeping the other less radical arab countries on guard
I would feel much better is al-Sistani would say something about what's happening. If he maintains his silence, I think its a bad sign.

[jeanmarc]

9. This is it.

The country is going into further chaos and yes, that is possible. To think, this began with the closing of a newspaper. No one believes there will be elections. And now we have a powerful cleric calling for an uprising again.

This is it. Iraq is spiraling quickly downward. I think it's time to lynch the PNAC. They deserve death and not a quick one.

These cretins treated the 9/11 tragedy like the Reichstagg. I don't believe in hell, but if there is one, I hope they burn there for all eternity.

The only good news here is that help is on the way. We'll get a real leader in there as Iraq swallows George W. Bush whole.

[PassingFair]

10. Kick

Why are we not talking about this. Sketchy news details, even from the brit press. What's going on?