Post #159,310
6/9/04 11:25:48 PM
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Sadr gains in popularity
[link|http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8871812.htm|KnightRidder Washington Bureau] After months of losing hundreds, if not thousands, of men in battles with the U.S. military, firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appears to be more popular than ever in Iraq.
American coalition leaders were optimistic that last week's truce calling for al-Sadr to move his men out of the holy cities of Najaf and Kufa was a sign of a weakened leader. In a recent poll of 1,640 Iraqis across the country, by the Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies, the numbers for those who either somewhat or strongly supported al-Sadr were higher than those of the new prime minister and a long list of other high-ranking Iraqi government officials. More striking was that support for al-Sadr was just 2.8 percentage points behind the 70 percent polled by the established Shiite Muslim leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al Husseini al Sistani. Sadr's success in his limited rebellion, combined with a truce that let him off the hook has made him among the most popular figures in Iraq. He is more popular then the new government and almost as popular as Sistani. Any doubts about al-Sadr's success were erased Saturday, when he was invited to meet with al Sistani, who in the past had sought to distance himself from the young cleric. Many saw the meeting as a stamp of legitimacy for al-Sadr, who's long been on the fringes of the political process. Sadr has gained a lot of power here. His power and popularity has gone up, while that of his enemies and rivals has gone down. Expect Sadr to be a big problem in the future. Jay
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Post #159,311
6/10/04 12:19:10 AM
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One day he may be directly negotiating with US
As may be Bin Laden. :-(
Stranger things have happened. Who would ever have believed beforehand that "bomb 'em all dead" Nixon would send Kissinger to Beijing then follow. [link|http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB66/|http://www.gwu.edu/~.../NSAEBB/NSAEBB66/]
For Brits, who could have concieved Jomo Kenyatta, leader of the 'Mau Mau' terrorists becoming the pM then president of his nation. [link|http://kenya.rcbowen.com/government/kenyatta.html|http://kenya.rcbowen...ent/kenyatta.html]
Doug M
_________________________________________________________
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!".
-- Leonardo Da Vinci
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Post #159,343
6/10/04 10:47:46 AM
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It may be a good thing
Long shot, I know, but it's just possible he was tought a lesson that Sistani learbed way before: 10,000 demontrators are better than a car bomb when negotiating with Americans. In other words, if Sadr enters into legitimate politics, we will all profit.
--
Buy high, sell sober.
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Post #159,762
6/13/04 12:37:50 PM
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Sadr shrinks in popularity...
[link|http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0528/p06s01-woiq.html|They may love him in the abstract, but hate the reality]
Excerpts:
With time, residents of the holy cities of Karbala, Najaf, and Kufa grew angry with the militiamen whose fighting disrupted their businesses, education, and lives...
But, by and large, the Mahdi Army appears to have lost its momentum, due to local intervention. In Sadr City, the Mahdi Army men say, they will battle US forces only if they are drawn into a fight.
I say:
So this whole armed uprising and blowing up a mosque was just a bid for a piece of the pie in the new order? This guy isn't ready for democracy. He lacks the common touch. Nobody supports him as such. And everywhere he goes people come to hate him. He'll be high in the polls only as long as nobody gets to know him.
Sort of like John Kerry, come to think of it. Or Mike Dukakis. Anybody remember Mike Dukakis? How about John Dean?
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Iraq is free, and there's nothing you can do about it. DEAL WITH IT.
Americans: a pack, not a herd.
Never mind the nerve gas. Where's the, um...
"It\ufffds Warholian: in the future, all conflicts will be Vietnam for 15 minutes." - Lileks
[link|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html|http://www.angelfire...arlowe/index.html]
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Post #159,763
6/13/04 12:54:52 PM
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Iraqi blogger says they hate him in his hometown.
[link|http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/|Aw, what does he know? He's just some guy on the spot.]
Excerpt:
After the war, most of the people of Sadr city were so happy; they got rid of their oppressor, they enjoyed freedom of speech and performing their religious ceremonies. Most important is that the raise in the average income opened the door for the private businesses, including the small ones, to prosper. Young men can make a good living by several means without resorting to violence or breaking the law. Things were going just fine and improving when young Sadr started his revolt. Sadr city became insecure again and businesses were damaged seriously as a result. In the early days of that revolt, people sympathized with that idiot because they loved his father, but as his followers\ufffd behavior became intolerable and as the lives of people and their jobs were jeopardized, they lost all sympathy with him and all they want now is peace so that they can go back to their works again.
That taxi driver was not the only one from Sadr city with such opinion. Most of the people I\ufffdve met lately expressed the same view. The only people, who don\ufffdt want Muqtada to be arrested, are the senior She\ufffdat clerics including Sistani. This may look strange when put in context with the relation they have with Iran\ufffds puppet. He always harassed them and tried to take the lead in the streets. He even tried to force Sistani to leave Iraq. Yet, they don\ufffdt want him to be arrested. They wouldn\ufffdt care much if he was killed, in fact some of them are fighting him already (Thulfiqar organization, another name to Badr legion) but arresting him would be a serious blow to them.
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Iraq is free, and there's nothing you can do about it. DEAL WITH IT.
Americans: a pack, not a herd.
Never mind the nerve gas. Where's the, um...
"It\ufffds Warholian: in the future, all conflicts will be Vietnam for 15 minutes." - Lileks
[link|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html|http://www.angelfire...arlowe/index.html]
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Post #161,279
6/23/04 5:41:12 PM
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Sadr so popular they all ratted him out.
[link|http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040622-113720-3352r.htm|No big trick to getting al Sadr. Just a matter of followthrough]
Excerpt:
Gen. Dempsey first needed the locations of Sheik al-Sadr's
rifle-toting henchmen. Average Iraqis, fed up with the militia's
kidnappings and thievery, quickly became spies, as did a few moderate
clerics who publicly stayed neutral.
Once he had targets, Gen. Dempsey could then map a battle plan for
entering four key cities - Karbala, Najaf, Kufa and Diwaniyah. This
would be a counterinsurgency fought with 70-ton M-1 Abrams tanks and
aerial gunships overhead. It would not be the lightning movements of
clandestine commandos, but rather all the brute force the Army could
muster, directed at narrowly defined targets.
Last week, Sheik al-Sadr surrendered. He called on what was left
of his men to cease operations and said he may one day seek public
office in a democratic Iraq.
I say:
What's this about average Iraqis? Isn't he supposed to be
[link|http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8871812.htm|super popular] or something?
[link|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/iraq.sadr.html#20040623|Home link]
----------------------------------------------------------------
Iraq is free, and there's nothing you can do about it. DEAL WITH IT.
Americans: a pack, not a herd.
Never mind the nerve gas. Where's the, um...
"It\ufffds Warholian: in the future, all conflicts will be Vietnam for 15 minutes." - Lileks
[link|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html|http://www.angelfire...arlowe/index.html]
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Post #161,280
6/23/04 5:45:08 PM
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I say:
What's your point?
I say:
Why are you still here?
I say:
Why don't you try interacting with us, instead of this ridiculous posturing?
I say:
Why don't you find a new message format? Surprise us!
I say:
And for gawd's sake, find something else to talk about. You're like a stuck record.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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