al_Sadr is picking up on the American democratic talking points and demanding a time table for withdrawal from Iraq.
Sadr raises pressure for US to withdraw
The United States faced a fresh challenge to its presence in Iraq yesterday when supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr’s radical Shia Muslim movement quit the Baghdad government to demand a deadline for withdrawal of its troops.
By pulling out of the ruling Shia Alliance coalition, Sadr has moved a step closer to outright confrontation with the American-led military effort to stabilise Iraq.
The loss of Sadr’s followers, including six cabinet ministers, does not deprive Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, of an overall majority but does reduce his scope for horse trading between competing factions.
Sadr triggered the crisis in a letter to supporters that demanded a timetable for withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. It said: “I pray for God Almighty to bestow on the Iraqi people a government that is independent from occupation and one that works hard in the service of its people.”
The movement holds one quarter of parliamentary seats in the Alliance which governs in coalition with Kurdish parties. The bloc’s parliamentary representative, Nassar al-Rubaie, said the decision was taken after Mr Maliki rejected an ultimatum to confront the Americans.
Behind the scenes, the split has been on the cards for months. Mr Maliki issued a statement yesterday thanking Sadr for instructing his ministers to resign, so that competent “independents” could be appointed.
The loss of Sadr’s representatives in the government of Iraq can only be a good thing. He has led a violent resistance against the Iraqi government and Americans since the fall of Saddam. By all appearances, he has primarily been on a mission to increase his own power and control the government himself. His resistance seems to be more about him and his power than about any particular belief system.
He comes from a prominent, well-to-do family. He ‘relates’ to the poor and disenfranchised and uses them to solidify his own power. He has convinced these disenfranchised youth that he will make their lives better. He sends them out to fight the fledgling Iraqi government and American Soldiers while he hides in Iran. He is demanding the American Soldiers leave Iraq, which will increase his own power.
I don’t know – all of that sounds very familiar somehow …… does that method of grabbing power sound familiar to anyone else?? hmmmmm…….
Oh – and he is getting weapons and weapon technology from Iran as well.
He and his followers are enemies and need to be treated as such.
tiara tip PC Free Zone who has a suggestion for dealing with Sadr ….
He has called for the killing of American troops. That makes him the enemy, not opposition political party.Take him out and take out his followers when they protest in the street.
[I love the photo which I snagged from the PC Free Zone! Great job with that photo Wild Thing! It flatters him!]
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I love the image, heh.
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