Sadr drops all conditions in talks with US-led coalition

[happyending]

Wednesday April 14, 10:26 PM
Sadr drops all conditions in talks with US-led coalition

Shiite Muslim radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr has agreed to drop all his conditions in negotiations with the US-led coalition and to follow the guidance of the highest Shiite religious authority, a close aide said.

"Moqtada Sadr is ready to accept what the Marjaiya (the top Shiite spiritual leaders) ask for and to drop the conditions he had set for a mediation," Qais al-Khazaali told a press conference in Najaf.

He said the Marjaiya had chosen a delegation to negotiate with the US side a settlement of the crisis.

The delegation is led by Abdel Karim al-Aanazi, who heads the breakaway faction of the Daawa party led by Ibrahim Jaafari.

more here
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040414/1/3jhhg.html

[makhno]

1. A page from Kim Jong Il's book

Played the US like a fiddle. Can't well arrest or kill him now, can we? The point's been made - the Iraqis can turn the occupation into a nightmare whenever they want. The political consequences of the past two weeks for the CPA are going to be very painful.

To think that this fundamentalist half-wit has more power politics know-how than the self-proclaimed students of history in the neocon ranks is either scary or genuinely amusing.

bm

[wabeewoman]

3. I notice the media never says it either....

Why can't "this fundamentalist half-wit"'s objection to the US destruction of his country, trying to install a puppet government and making things so much worse for the average Iraqi be his reason. bush tried to demonize him in his 'press conference' but there are two sides to every story and making someone out to be evil because we disagree doesn't carry much weight with me. I'm afraid I'd act just like he is if my country were occupied.

[makhno]

5. I doubt it

I doubt that this guy's primary motivation is as lofty as you suggest. He is a political animal through and through, a religious operative from the Khomeini school of Islamic politics. I'm positive that if he determined that cooperating with the US would afford him the best position in the "new Iraq", he wouldn't hesitate to do so.

That said, I don't deny that genuine nationalistic and religious feelings partially drive his approach. He just strikes me as the Shiite equivalent of the Soviet bloc "communist" leaders - socialism if politically expedient, realism otherwise.

bm

[DulceDecorum]

6. Do you know him personally?

You sound as if you once rode together in the trunk of a car Chalabi-style.

Moqtada Sadr appears to be paying the piper and he who pays the piper calls the tune. The Iraqi campaign to rid themselves of the armies of occupation is gaining momentum.

I especially like the part where they did NOT kill the hostages.
They just let you know that they damn well could have done so, but then they released them unharmed.
I guess some would call that a flip flop
but
this manouver shows an excellent comprehension of human endocrinology.
The adrenaline secreted by the adrenal glands of the hostages and those who feared for the hostages'safety causes the human brain to engage one of two mechanisms. The first respinse is FLIGHT and if that option is not available, then the person will then have to FIGHT their way out of the situation.
The Iraqis are faced with the second scenario but in giving the hostages the ability to withdraw, they have scored points globally. The adrenaline rush within observers will now focus itself upon those who sent the hostages into Iraq in the first place. Those corporations and governments will bear the brunt of the hostility and anger that would have been focussed on the people of Iraq had the hostages been killed.
Meanwhile, since the USMC INSISTS upon raising the national adrenaline level of ALL of those in Iraq,
and since the Iraqi have nowhere to run to,
the USMC is basically committing suicide.

There is a natural law. Physics tells us, that for every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. They hate us, we hate them, they hate us back. And so, here we are, victims of mathematics.
-- Londo Mollari, Babylon 5.



"Yesterday we heard this villain called Rumsfeld. He, of course, is a war criminal, and he is one of the worst of the American rulers. He said the American mercenaries and the British mercenaries, they are defending themselves inside Iraq. They are in a defensive position. They are engaged in self-defense. They are fighting a self-defense war inside Iraq. Well, congratulations, Mr. Villain, you are defending yourself inside our country. We will show you what defense means."

"Bush is a very stupid man. The American people are not stupid, they are very clever. I can't understand how such clever people came to elect such a stupid president."

"They are lying every day. They are lying always, and mainly they are lying to their public opinion."

"They want to deceive their people first because now they are in a very shabby situation."
-- Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf

[makhno]

8. We used to hang out after class at the madrassa

I do agree with your analysis. The hostage taking mirrors the military actions - those guys know very well how to play the occupation forces, politically and psychologically.

It doesn't change the fact that I have a hard time ascribing much idealism to any political operative, secular or religious. Islam is the ideology available to Sadr. Forty years ago, he would've been using Arab nationalism for the same purposes.

bm

[damnraddem]

7. He's no half-wit, and he is playing power politics.

He's an ayatollah a la the Iranian brood. In this, he does differ from other Shia leaders in Iraq. And the US has inadvertently helped him become the power-broker in Shia politics in Iraq.

[makhno]

9. Poor choice of words

I meant fuckwit. As in "I abhor his chosen ideology and really wish this was more of a secular Arab-nationalist movement." :)

bm

[newyawker99]

11. Hi makhno!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Robbien]

2. The headline of this story is sooo slanted

Yes al-Sadr changed the conditions, and he got a good deal in the process. The headline tries to make one believe that al-Sadr has surrendered or lost face where in fact he did not.

[aneerkoinos]

4. Nothing new

He's been saying that all the time. And yes, it very much looks like he's become the dog of war for Sistani & co, on a short leash for the time being.

What would be interesting to know, what are Sistani's demands for the US (he does not consider CPA worthy to negotiate with), what is the "price they have to pay" as they have been reported having said. Iranians are coming, UN delegate is coming, there's whiff of big deal in the making, but will Allah give US wisdom to take the last chanse it is now being offered? Something tells me that that for the time being DoD neocon camp is not at the helm but State&CIA...

[aneerkoinos]

10. Misleading

In fact, Al-Sadr dropped his conditions for starting negotiations:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040414/wl_nm/iraq_sadr_dc&cid=574&ncid=1473