Sadr says if the US puppets push through a constitution he is going postal

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25581430.htm

NEWSMAKER-Firebrand Iraqi cleric hits centre stage again
25 Aug 2005 00:36:30 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose fighters clashed with rival Shi'ite factions on Wednesday night, has again returned to centre stage in the new Iraq but this time the stakes are much higher.

As Shi'ite and Kurdish government leaders were set to push through a constitution Sadr fiercely opposes, his spokesman warned that his Mehdi Army militia could be quickly mobilised after fighting erupted with administration-linked Shi'ites.

Sadr, scion of a respected Shi'ite clerical dynasty who led two uprisings against U.S. troops last year, has set a pattern of lengthy periods of silence followed by dramatic entrances.

Clashes in the holy city of Najaf, in Baghdad and elsewhere could offer Sadr an opportunity to reassert himself at a time of uncertainty, a skill he has mastered since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

This week he reminded the U.S.-backed government how quickly he can stir passions when thousands of his supporters protested against the draft constitution, stepping up pressure on Iraqi leaders exhausted after weeks of wrangling over the charter.

Capitalising on frustrations among Iraqis over hardships since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, Sadr has won followers by speaking out for the poor and defying American military firepower.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. We'll have to mail him our response then..... is this the mission

we wanted to accomplish??

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Sadr was kicking US ass last time. This time nobody will call him off

LAst time, lots of people died on both sides.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Isn't this the goon who was pals with Bush's cabal? And whose thugs

killed Cindy Sheehan's son while he was on patrol?

[NNN0LHI]

4. Yea here is the story from someone who was there

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GH25Ak04.html

Aug 25, 2005

Why Casey Sheehan was killed

By Aaron Glantz

DENVER - Despite camping out next to George W Bush's Texas ranch for two weeks, Cindy Sheehan has been unable to get a meeting with the president for an explanation of why her 24-year-old son had to die in action. So, here is some of the story from one who was there.

Like Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, I was in Baghdad's Sadr City on April 4, 2004. I was there as an unembedded journalist (not attached to a military unit). Unlike Casey Sheehan, I came out alive.

I had traveled to Sadr City to cover the Bush administration's attack on the movement of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. It didn't matter that the cleric had millions of followers or that he was the scion of an important political family with a history of standing up to tyranny. (His father was killed by Saddam Hussein's regime for fomenting revolution in 1999. His uncle, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, was killed for leading an insurrection against Saddam's Ba'ath rule in 1980.)

It didn't matter that Sadr's forces were providing food aid to the poor or organizing traffic patrol and garbage duty in an atmosphere with no basic services. The problem for Bush and his Iraq administrator, L Paul Bremer, was that Sadr was against the US occupation. So he had to be dealt with. First his newspaper was closed. (See The Shi'ite voice that will be heard, Asia Times Online, April 8, 2004)Then his top advisor was arrested. Then Bremer announced an unnamed judge was demanding that Sadr be arrested on charges of murder. "He's effectively attempting to establish his authority in place of the legitimate Iraqi government," Bremer told reporters. "We will not tolerate that."

[SpiralHawk]

6. Thanks, nice find NNN

So many threads of information floating about in the universe. Nice to connect them.

[KharmaTrain]

5. I Asked This In Another Thread...

My radar smells a Chalabi in here somewhere. Our "good friend", the oil minister seems to be very low-key these days.

I just wonder what games he's playing and if Sadr is doing some of his dirty work.