Mookie’s Return
Muqtada al-Sadr has urged his Mahdi Army to start fighting US forces but to avoid fighting the Iraqi troops.
Radical cleric Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr, ending weeks of tacit cooperation with American forces, called for renewed efforts to drive U.S. forces out of Iraq on the eve of a major anti-American rally in Najaf today. Thousands of supporters, mainly Shi’ites, were streaming into the central Iraqi city for the rally, according to reports from Najaf, while Iraqi authorities closed the capital to all vehicle traffic during today’s anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein.
This might work in our favor. At the end of the initial offensive, many of Saddam’s loyalists didn’t fight, instead just blending in with their surroundings. When Sadr fled to Iran and with Murtha, Reid and Pelosi clamoring for a date certain defeat withdrawal, a possibility existed that Sadr could ride the Petraeus Offensive out from friendly Iran. Now that President Bush has made it clear that he’d press onward in Iraq, Sadr’s back making headlines.
Even before the rally, defiant handbills appeared in the shrine city bearing Sheik al-Sadr’s official seal, the Associated Press reported. The warning appears to signal an end to eight weeks of tacit cooperation with the U.S. military, which has permitted a reduction in Shi’ite militia violence under the Baghdad Security Plan. “You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don’t walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy,” said the statement, which also urged the cleric’s followers to end sectarian infighting and turn all their efforts on the Americans. “God has ordered you to be patient in front of your enemy, and unify your efforts against them, not against the sons of Iraq,” the statement said.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Mahdi Army responds to orders from the man who commands them from Tehran. I can’t imagine that they’ll be too enthusiastic in getting pounded by MNF and Iraqi forces while their ‘leader’ hides in exile.
Technorati Tags: Muqtada al-Sadr, Mahdi Army, Iraq War, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Defeatocrats
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
April 9th, 2007 at 12:36 am
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April 9th, 2007 at 1:34 am
Al-Sadr urges Iraq to push U.S. out…
The renegade cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged the Iraqi army and police to stop cooperating with the Uni…
April 9th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Have you been paying attention? What part of “martyr” don’t you understand? Here, maybe this will help:
The violence continues unabated, and regarding the surge, as others here have said, “Yup, it’s working!” if, by working, you mean our soldiers continue to die and suffer life-altering injuries.
Why are we there again?
April 9th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I dont follow your reasoning at all.
Sadr seems to be realizing that war weary Iraqis nay turn against him. He’s trying to position himself as one of them now and saying, hey I just want to help you get rid of the Americans. Look, some of their politicians are wimping out, they threw the war party out, Bush is not popular, they are loosing their guts. Is time for us to join up.