Sadr calls for power handover to honest men

[Walt Starr]

Radical Shiite cleric says honest men should take power in Iraq, calls on Kuwait oust US bases.


NAJAF, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, who is presiding over a violent insurgency in Iraq, Wednesday called for power to be handed over to "honest men" and not to collaborators of the US-led occupation.

The cleric, in a statement issued in this holy city, urged "American people to take sides with the Iraqi people, oppressed by US leaders and the occupation army, to help them so that power is transferred to honest Iraqis."

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http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=9552

[Sandpiper]

1. Hard to argue with that

Anyone can see that the current Iraqi Governing Council is a bunch of US sycophants.

[Dhalgren]

2. I agree!

We should side with the Iraqi people. They should always have had our sympathies, and now they need our support.

[KissMyAsscroft]

3. Not gonna happen..

so they will continue fighting.

That's really the heart of the issue. How do the Americans fool the Iraqis into thinking they have a government that is not a complete tool for America?

Bush's solution? Bomb them into submission. That will work for short periods, but will backfire in the long run.

This is what happens when you invade a country with no plan.

[saigon68]

6. They are going to kill him

Then Rove and Dan Senor will tell us how he Stomped day old babies into Jello in their incubators.

[denverbill]

4. Why should they be better off than us?!?

[Guaranteed]

10. LOL nt

[Just Me]

5. When he says stuff like that, he comes off more as a "good" guy,

than some radical terrorist, huh.

Hey, maybe he DOES care about the best interests of the Iraqi people over the economic interests of the Bush loyalists.

Ya' never know!!!!

[Walt Starr]

7. Sadr has been quietly biding his time

He is in a position to become to Iraq what Khomeni was to Iran.

[Just Me]

20. Question is: would he be a representative FOR his people,...

,...a better representative than the US installed government,...or not? Who would better serve the Iraqi people?

[Dhalgren]

23. Let the Iraqis make that choice.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Boy! He doesn't sound crazy to me...

Sounds like he's got the CPA's number, if you ask me.

[dArKeR]

9. I caught 30 seconds of Kerry live on CNN, just after Kerry said 'honest'

CNN cut him off with an 'URGENT' flash to McCain talking on the Senate floor. I heard nothing urgent. Anyway, it was quite power the way Kerry said 'honest' and paused. I thought the hall was going to crack in half from the sound of silence.

McCain talked about Iraq being better of now. I don't think anyone sane acedemic would repeat that. Any if so, is it justice to NOT to compare Iraq to all the the American puppet dictators in countries around the world and are their citizens better off. For example the PI. There is no doubt Marcos stole more, killed more, lied more... than Saddam. And I can tell you first hand, nothing has gotten any better in the PI since Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, and Whore Arroyo. It is moral and 'Fair and Balanced' to compare situations to situations.

[rumguy]

11. thing is he can say whatever he wants

He's still a religious fundamentalist. If he was white and an American everyone here would be bitching about him....

[truthspeaker]

12. key word: American

If he were an American I would probably be bitching about him. But he is an Iraqi. I am not. His vision of an Iraqi government may not be palatable to me, but he has a lot more right to have an opinion about it than I do. It's his fucking country.

[Dhalgren]

13. It's their country, not ours. It's their country, not ours.

It's their country, not ours.

[rumguy]

14. that doesn't mean we have to like him, or support him

Will he be elected by a majority? Will he rule by force? Is he really an honest man?

I don't know, but I have my doubts. Maybe I'll be proved wrong.

Nazi Germany was also "their country, not ours" - that doesn't mean we had to like Hitler.

[Walt Starr]

15. Will he be elected by a majority?

Probably, seeing as how a majority of Iraqis are Sunni.

True democratic principles being instituted in Iraq scares the crap out of most of the region.

[rumguy]

16. sunnis are the minority, no?

And Sadr is a Shia - and even within that group he is a small faction...he doesn't speak for the whole population, and don't let your hatred of the shrub lead you into irrational positions, like cheering on Sadr...

[Dhalgren]

17. The fact is that Iraqis need to make the choices in Iraq.

Not me, not you, not the US. The US is 100% in the WRONG in Iraq. There is no wriggle room, not "yeah, but"s. So it doesn't matter in the least whether this Iraqi cleric is a "good" guy or a "bad" guy by our lights - it's what the Iraqis think that matter. And right now, there are thousands of Iraqis willing to die who are on his side. So if Sadr makes a statement to the world that makes sense and sounds reasonable, I think we can give ear to it without having to defend ourselves from BuchCo propaganda.

[rumguy]

18. I'm sure Hitler said some reasonable things too

I'm saying we don't have to like him, or cheer him on, or support him - quite frankly to do so is unseemly and idiotic.

Yeah he has thousands of angry supporters - big fucking deal. Iraq is a country of millions.

[Dhalgren]

21. Sadr, right now, is a freedom-fighter, I support freedom-fighters.

It's just that simple. You compare him to Hitler, I'm unsure why, but when Stalin fought Hitler, the US supported Stalin.

I think you can shout all day about how "unseemly" it is for someone to support people who are fighting for their lives and their freedom, but I think it is high time that people started getting a little "unseemly", before it is too late.

[rumguy]

22. we'll see how much "freedom" he brings to the Iraqi people

something tells me he's after power, I hope I'm wrong.

[Dhalgren]

24. I hope you are, too. But it remains

a decision for the Iraqi people, not the US. We don't get to pick other peoples leaders - hell, we don't get to pick our own.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

19. i thought that's what our children died for>>>>IRAQI FREEDOM ...& i agree

they should choose what they want ......not what chimpo wants....i HATE BUSH*