A 'Minor Cleric,' or a Martyr

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/20040406/ts_latimes/aminorclericoramartyr&cid=2026&ncid=1480

<snip>
WASHINGTON — In seeking the arrest of radical Iraqi cleric Muqtader Sadr, the Bush administration is gambling that the Shiite leader still has a limited following that can be neutralized without disrupting U.S. plans to hand sovereignty over to a fledgling Iraqi government in three months.


The U.S.-led coalition has avoided confrontation with Sadr for 10 months, preferring to try to isolate him politically. But Sadr's faction has attracted new support, and he has turned to more confrontational tactics. So rather than allow his organization to gain momentum and possibly undermine the interim government that is to take power in July, the administration has concluded that it needs to deal with him now, U.S. officials say.


The interim government may be especially vulnerable to disruption as it seeks to begin operations and organize elections, U.S. officials and experts say. And because the core of Sadr's support is in the slums of the capital, that could make him a special threat, they say.


But despite the U.S. confidence that Sadr is only a "relatively minor cleric," in the words of one official, it is difficult to anticipate the Iraqi public's reaction to any American move against him.

[Daisey Mae]

1. Bush is in WAY OVER HIS HEAD.....

He has opened a can of worms that he will live to regret. opening.....This bunch who seem to be in charge of this mess...don't have a clue... they never once took the time to look into this Country and look into the culture and ways of these prople.... Saddam ,who wasn't a very nice person, ruled with an iron fist..... I think we are discovering why he did so....THIS WAR AND ITS MISHANDLING SHOULD COST BUSH THE ELECTION,,,, Let alone the mess he has with the economy and the HUGE deficit.....

[Spentastic]

2. My brain hurts so much

Yeah lets kill Jesus he's only a minor preacher.


Oops

[Capt_Nemo]

4. Absolutely right, that is the way myths and legends are created

And on top of that, judging by the name of his militia, Sadr may
phantasise about being the messiah!

Man, if people weren't dying by the dozen a day this would be
hillarious!

[Spentastic]

5. It amazes me!

Sometimes I do actually laugh at these people.

There was some general gobbing off from Centcom yesterday saying something like "Anyone standing against the Coalition forces will be hunted down and captured or killed. It's as simple as that"

As simple as that? I think you'll find it far from simple you fucking idiot.

[saigon68]

6. The General is an idiot

Or as you so quaintly put it a "FUCKING IDIOT"

[saigon68]

3. Pontius Paul Bremer Governor of Eastern IRAQ-Nam issues Warrant

"Minor Cleric's" supporters defend themselves

[RedEarth]

7. "minor cleric".......Check this out if you think al-Sadr is a minor cleric

Juan Cole(history professor at University of Michigan) has an excellent, in depth blog primarily dealing with the Middle East. From time to time, he will be interviewed by various networks(he was on ABC last night) giving his opinion on the Iraqi situation. Cole knows what he is talking about regarding the Middle East.

Below is a recent post from his site dealing with al-Sadr.


http://www.juancole.com/2004_04_01_juancole_archive.html#1081196989511...

2. Talking heads both from Iraq and from the ranks of the US retired officers keep attempting to maintain that Muqtada's movement is small and marginal. One speaker claimed that Muqtada has only 10,000 men.

In fact that is the size of his formal militia. Muqtada's movement is like the layers of an onion. You have 10,000 militiamen. But then you have tens of thousands of cadres able to mobilize neighborhoods. Then you have hundreds of thousands of Sadrists, followers of Muqtada and other heirs of Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr. Then you have maybe 5 million Shiite theocrats who sympathize with Muqtada's goals and rhetoric, about a third of the Shiite community. The Sadrists will now try to shift everything so that the 5 million become followers, the hundreds of thousands become cadres, and the tens of thousands become militiamen.