DescentBB

On of the blogs I visit is an Iraqi dentist posting from Baghdad. Here's his secular take on today because I know much of the news has been confusing.

Al-Sadr calls upon followers to 'terrorize' the enemy

Muqty is playing on his old dirty tricks again, only this time he has gone too far. Following last Friday's prayer sermon, when he announced that he would be a 'striking hand' in Iraq for Hizbollah and Hamas whenever they need, and issued a veiled warning to Kurds to stop assisting the occupiers, his followers in Kufa ran amok killing an Iraqi IP colonel and after that attacked Salvadorian and Spanish troops. Spanish forces retorted by arresting Sayyid Mustafa Al-Ya'qubi, an aide of Muqtada and head of Sadr's office in Najaf.

Meanwhile, in a display of power and defiance, Al-Sadr organised a military parade on the streets of Al-Thawra district (Sadr city), a Shi'ite stronghold, in Baghdad on Saturday where thousands of Jaish Al-Mahdi (Al-Mahdi army) militiamen in black marched along with mullahs to the horror of Iraqis who watched on tv, bringing back nightmares of Fedayeen parades under Saddam. American and Israeli flags were burnt at the parade, and large posters of Muqtada and his father Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr (assasinated by Mukhabarat in 1999) were carried by the demonstrators. One of the mullahs at the parade stated that "this is to show our power to the world. This army is a striking force and a time bomb that can go off any moment at the time and place our leader deems necessary". Later that day, Sadr followers cut off roads leading to the entrance of the Convention center near the Green Zone, set fire in tires, and prevented vehicles from crossing over Jumhuriya bridge. While they were at it, they attacked Video CD stores and gaming shops in Bab Al-Sharji accusing them of selling porn movies.

Since Al-Sadr's weekly newspaper Al-Hawza was closed about a week ago for inciting violence against the coalition, there have been daily demonstrations near the Green Zone by Sadr supporters demanding re-opening the paper and against the national reconciliation conferences initiated by Kurdish leader Mas'ud Barzani, current head of the GC. I passed through one such demonstration last Wednesday with Omar and AYS at Tahrir square and it looked dangerous, they were armed with pistols and AK-47's.

Anyway, last thing we heard was that Muqtada Al-Sadr's residence in Najaf was surrounded by coalition troops and that his followers clashed with Spanish troops in Kufa, 21 of them killed and 120 wounded. IP stations in Kufa were attacked, and there was news of fighting in Sadun street and Al-Thawra in Baghdad. Last word from Muqty was that he asked his followers to stop demonstrating and to resort to 'other methods' since demonstrations aren't working. Al-Jazeera is having difficulties concealing their excitement and they have already coined this as the 'start of the Shia resistance in Iraq'.

Iraqis know very well who those 'pious' people are. They are gangsters, rapists, murderers, thieves, kidnappers, looters, and criminals. They are only using religion as cover. I can't even dream of what would happen if those people were left to make trouble on our streets that way without punishment. I believe that it's now time for Al-Sadr to experience a very bad accident soon. We will be sorry for him I assure you, "Oh poor fellow, what a terrible misfortune, what a great loss" we would say to each other knowingly. It's scenes like these that make me sometimes wonder to myself if Saddam wasn't justified in assassinating all those clerics. Get that new Mukhabarat working.

source?

It's a bit of a sidestep from the topic, but I think the following blog entry by Victor Davis Hanson (from NRO) is one hell of a response to what happened in Fallujah. I think it captures my thoughts on the Middle East more clearly than anything I've read. It touches on the dentist's observation about how perceived victims in the region are often quite capable victimizers themselves and the pathetic double standard the arab world so often presents to the rest of us. It's a bit long, but a good read (imo):

http://victorhanson.com/index.html

"Postcolonial theory and victimology argue that European colonialism, Zionism, and petrodollars wrecked the Middle East"

Petrodollars did not cause anything, but it does give them the means to export their madness. The sooner we can develop hydrogen fuel cells the better.
As to Al-Sadr, the sooner he gets asassinated the better off Iraq will be. Yeah Lothar I know it is not a nice thought but what the heck.

I think al-Sadr watched Blackhawk Down one too many times and neglected to consider that maybe we did too. From now until June 30, it's going to be best friend/worst enemy.

What's June 30th?

The target date for turning over the government of Iraq to Iraqis. Although, it may be in jeopardy now.

I used to think some madmen hijacked Islam, now I know it's the other way around, some peaceniks tried to turn it into something it is not. The mid east is the epitomy of disfunction.

Hahahahahaha.

June 30th, of what year?

There is some hope. An Iraqi judge has issued a murder warrent for Al Sadr's arrest. I wonder how long before the judge gets wacked.

Today's blog entry:

A coup dâ??etat is taking place in Iraq a the moment. Al-Shuâ??la, Al-Hurria, Thawra (Sadr city), and Kadhimiya (all Shiâ??ite neighbourhoods in Baghdad) have been declared liberated from occupation. Looting has already started at some places downtown, a friend of mine just returned from Sadun street and he says Al-Mahdi militiamen are breaking stores and clinics open and also at Tahrir square just across the river from the Green Zone. News from other cities in the south indicate that Sadr followers (tens of thousands of them) have taken over IP stations and governorate buildings in Kufa, Nassiriya, Ammara, Kut, and Basrah. Al-Jazeera says that policemen in these cities have sided with the Shia insurgents, which doesnâ??t come as a surprise to me since a large portion of the police forces in these areas were recruited from Shiâ??ite militias and we have talked about that ages ago. And it looks like this move has been planned a long time ago.

No one knows what is happening in the capital right now. Power has been cut off in my neighbourhood since the afternoon, and I can only hear helicopters, massive explosions, and continuous shooting nearby. The streets are empty, someone told us half an hour ago that Al-Mahdi are trying to take over our neighbourhood and are being met by resistance from Sunni hardliners. Doors are locked, and AK-47â??s are being loaded and put close by in case they are needed. The phone keeps ringing frantically. Baghdadis are horrified and everyone seems to have made up their mind to stay home tomorrow until the situation is clear.

Where is Sistani? And why is he keeping silent about this?

I have to admit that until now I have never longed for the days of Saddam, but now Iâ??m not so sure. If we need a person like Saddam to keep those rabid dogs at bay then be it. Put Saddam back in power and after he fills a couple hundred more mass graves with those criminals they can start wailing and crying again for liberation. What a laugh we will have then. Then they can shove their filthy Hawza and marjiâ??iya up somewhere else. I am so dissapointed in Iraqis and I hate myself for thinking this way. We are not worth your trouble, take back your billions of dollars and give us Saddam again. We truly â??deserveâ?? leaders like Saddam.

Sounds like this blogger reads Victor Davis Hanson too. Of important note is that al-Sadr is reported to be the Iranians' hand-groomed cleric in Iraq. Speculation is that this is being orchestrated as a proxy war from Tehran. One of the other things you don't read much about in the mainstream press is that there appears to be an anti-Mullahcracy revolution brewing in Iran and it would serve us well to support it and not let the Iranian border impede us while dealing with al-Sadr if an Iranian link is established. It also won't suprise me if we suddenly start hearing veiled noises from the mullahs that Iran has nuclear capability if they start feeling cornered. It's become fairly obvious of late that they've been working at fever pitch to manufacture bomb-grade plutonium. Still, I doubt they have anything they can deliver yet.

If it is indeed Iran backing the shiite, then we are going to seriously look fomenting civil war in Iran.
IAEA has already stated the Iranians have not come clean with their nuclear program. They need it for power when they are sitting on the 3rd largest oil reserve in the world, heh.
I suspect there was a good reason that Bush included Iran in the axis of evil and I suspect we are starting to see a inkling of it now.
It will be interesting to see how this shia uprising plays out.

Instapundit has some interesting stuff regard this uprising. Reynolds quotes that same passage by Zeyad and some of the responses are interesting:

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As a fighting force, Sadr's militia impressed neither U.S. commanders nor the Iraqi officers at one police station they occupied for three hours.

"Mahdi Army! They're not an army!" Officer Haider Raheem said of the unemployed young men who took over one station by brandishing grenades. "They're a bunch of looters." Before running off at the sound of approaching tanks, Raheem said, they scooped up everything from rifles to food for the prisoners. "Can you believe they even stole the water cup from the restroom?" he said.
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An aide to Mohammad Bahr al-Uloum, a member of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council, said Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, regarded as Iraq's most powerful cleric and a rival of Sadr's, supported the Iraqi seminary's appeal.

"The Hawza (seminary) is unanimous on this," the aide said.

"We asked Moqtada (al-Sadr) to stop resorting to violence, occupying public buildings and other actions that make him an outlaw. He insists on staying on the same course that could destroy the nation."
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I don't know if the Bush administration is as strategically inclined as Eric Hall suggests, but to have deliberately brought on last-ditch mayhem from extremists while full troop strength would be present - rather than a year from now - is a brilliantly calculated risk. Al-Sadr, particularly, was basically handed the brush to paint himself with crosshairs.

But I can see the elite headline: "BUSH MISLEADS SUNNI AND SHIITE EXTREMISTS."

"Bush lied -- terrorists died!" That works for me.
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April 5â?? Shiite Arabs in Iraq express relatively little support for attacks against coalition forces such as those that occurred Sunday. And while most do express confidence in religious leaders and call for them to play a role in Iraq today, most do not seek a theocracy, and very few see Iran as a model for Iraq.

A nationwide poll of Iraqis conducted in February for ABCNEWS also found that very few Shiites express support for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia mounted the deadly attacks against the U.S.-led occupation. . . .

In terms of al-Sadr, a bare 1 percent of Iraqis name him as the national leader they trust most. On Iran, just 3 percent name it as a model for Iraq in the coming years, and just 4 percent say it should play a role in rebuilding Iraq.
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Apparently a warrant has been issued for al-Sadr's arrest. It'll be an interesting week or two ahead.

Adding credibility to your quote that Sadr's militia is a militia in name only is this piece from the Washington Post that describes how eight mercs from Blackwater held off hundreds of al-Sadr's goons.

An attack by hundreds of Iraqi militia members on the U.S. government's headquarters in Najaf on Sunday was repulsed not by the U.S. military, but by eight commandos from a private security firm, according to sources familiar with the incident.

Before U.S. reinforcements could arrive, the firm, Blackwater Security Consulting, sent in its own helicopters amid an intense firefight to resupply its commandos with ammunition and to ferry out a wounded Marine, the sources said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... 4Apr5.html

For all the whining we've been hearing lately from the left on the use of contracted security, this should put to rest whether *mercenaries* represent a valuable supplemental force.

Today from Zeyad...

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More on Sadr's insurgency

Sadr's aide and head of his office in Najaf, Qays Al-Khaz'ali, has declared the latest looting and killing spree going on in several Iraqi southern cities as an Intifada against the occupation. Speaking on behalf of Muqtada, he stated that they will certainly not calm down any soon because the Quran orders them not to; "Fight those who fight against you". And he has also made it clear that they stand united with their 'Sunni brothers' in Ramadi, Fallujah, and Adhamiya in the resistance.

Muqtada himself though doesn't seem as if he has made up his mind yet. I believe the fool senses that he has blundered seriously. Earlier yesterday he issued an announcement to his followers to cease the 'demonstrations', and that he had left the Kufa mosque and took refuge at Imam Ali's shrine in Najaf, typically hiding among civilians and holy sites like the coward he is. Later, however, he issued another written statement in which he reiterated his pledge to Hassan Fadhlallah, Hizbollah leader, adding to it that he will be the 'striking hand' for Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. One of his aides claimed that a delegation from Sistani met with Sadr informing him that the leading Shi'ite cleric supports Sadr and his followers and that their cause is legitimate. This contradicts Shitstani's statements yesterday, indicating that the old wizard is either suffering from senility or is playing his own dirty tricks. None of Sistani's agents have either denied or confirmed this claim, but they say that he will personally meet with Sadr tomorrow.

Meanwhile, violent clashes continue in Nassiriya and Ammara between Al-Mahdi militiamen and coalition troops. There were reports that the militia had kidnapped two South Korean construction workers in Nassiriya. At Kut it was reported that IP and Ukrainian forces regained control of the local tv and radio station after it had been overrun by Sadr's henchmen, but that fighting resumed later in the evening. Also, reports of fighting at Diwaniyah, which had been the only major city in the south unaffected by the recent developments up until yesterday.

Of course, Sadr has set up offices in almost every city, town, and village in the south. And I have mentioned earlier that they had assumed full control over my small village where I work in the Basrah governorate weeks ago, terrorizing IP officers, civil servants, and doctors but nobody was listening. I don't think I will be heading back there any soon now. What surprises me is the almost professional coordination of the uprisings in all of these areas. I'm assuming, of course, that the money and equipment supplied by our dear Mullahs in Iran is being put to use good enough, not to mention the hundreds of Pasderan and Iranian intelligence officers.. sorry I mean Iranian Shia pilgrims that have been pouring into Iraq for months now.

The situation in Baghdad looks the same as it was in the couple of days before the war last year. Streets are almost empty by seven in the evening, a whole lot of Baghdadis have remained home yesterday for fear of getting cut off from their neighbourhoods in event of Americans blocking off streets or something. There was an ongoing military operation very close to our neighbourhood almost all of Monday night till midday. At one point I imagined that the Apaches were landing on our roof (that was after I published the previous post), and explosions kept rocking our house which brought back uncanny memories of last April 10th when there was a fierce confrontation between Fedayeen and advancing Americans just outside our doorsteps.

I was standing outside with neighbours yesterday afternoon gossiping when a car drove by, threw a couple of fliers at us, shouting "read them, may Allah increase your reward". The fliers were signed by a group which called itself Saif Allah Albattar (Allah's striking sword) at Ramadi, Fallujah, Adhamiya, and Diyala, which advised Iraqis to remain home on April 9th (the anniversary of the occupation), stating that they would not be responsible if anyone failed to do so. Someone else talked about another group called the Iraqi Islamic Army (groups like these seem to pop up every other day) which claimed its responsibility for the killings of the 4 Americans in Fallujah last week, decribing them as 'Jews'.

Anyway, it seems that fighting is ongoing in Sadr city, northeast of Baghdad. A total of 110 Iraqis and 19 coalition soldiers killed in the last 12 hours according to Al-Jazeera, which I have never witnessed being any more hateful and provocative until this day. They keep displaying headlines like 'Occupation forces target more women and children in Sadr city' or 'Resistance in Fallujah forces occupation forces to withdraw from locations'.

A couple of GC members have shyly spoken against the violence. Ayad Allawi (INA) first described the uprisings as being directed by 'evil and dark forces who wish no prosperity for Iraqis', then he started beseeching his 'brother' Muqtada Al-Sadr to stay calm (Even he is scared from Sadr's thugs?). SCIRI leader, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim condemned the behaviour of occupation forces in killing civilians in Najaf and called for their punishment. The Iraqi Ministry of Justice stated that they had absolutely nothing to do with the arrest warrant for Muqtada Al-Sadr. And you want us to keep hope?

No one knows where it is all heading. If this uprising is not crushed immediately and those
militia not captured then there is no hope at all. If you even consider negotiations or appeasement, then we are all doomed.

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Iran's presence in this latest disruption seems pretty obvious now. The part about April 9th is worrisome but I'm sure the US military is taking steps to blunt whatever has been planned. My guess is al-Sadr and his Iranian puppetmasters are hoping for a major PR coup through the Western media to paint Iraq as a hopeless cause. Brace yourselves for an Iranian-sponsored *Tet Offensive*.

Updated:

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Sistani issues the long-awaited fatwa to keep calm

The Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani issued a fatwa late Wednesday to "resolve the latest developments in Iraq in a peaceful manner" in order to prevent anarchy and bloodshed. "We condemn the behaviour of occupation forces in dealing with the current events, and we also condemn any trespass against public and private property, or any other conduct that may disrupt security and obstruct Iraqis from their jobs in serving the people". Sistani also called upon political parties to work together in an effective manner to put an end to the "tragedy".

Why did he wait so long before issuing this fatwa? Was it to gauge coalition and public reaction? Was it to prove that only he has the last word in clearing up the mess?

The fatwa comes after 5 days of violence and unrest in several Shi'ite cities in southern Iraq, and while it is true that traditionally a fatwa from a living Grand Ayatollah is binding to his followers, that does not however apply to Al-Sadr's supporters who point out the more radical Grand Ayatollah Kadhim Al-Ha'eri (Iraqi exile Shia cleric operating from Meshed, Iran) as their spiritual leader, despite Al-Sadr's clumsy announcement two days ago that he will follow whatever Sistani and the Hawza in Najaf chooses for him, which I think is more probably a cry for help from the elders in Najaf.

Meanwhile, Sadr's supporters are still controlling Kut since yesterday's withdrawal of Ukrainian forces. Mahdi militiamen have taken over and looted CPA headquarters in the city as well as British Hard Group company division which was working on power station maintenance in Kut, killing it's manager who was a South African. Clashes are still reported from Sadr city, Nassiriyah, Mahhawil, and Karbala. Al-Mahdi militiamen have also resorted to kidnapping westerners, a British contractor has been kidnapped in Nassiriya, as well as several South Koreans, some of whom were released later. One of Sadr's aides stated that they had several foreign hostages to be exchanged with Mustafa Al-Ya'qubi who has been detained by coalition forces. Also two Israeli Arabs (??) (what the hell are Americans thinking?) were held hostage by a group Ansar Al-Din, they were shown on the Iranian Al-Alam tv, and were described as Mossad agents. Al-Jazeera displayed a short tape showing three blindfolded and handcuffed Japanese journalists (a woman and two men) being held by a group calling itself Sarraya Al-Mujahideen which threatened to burn them alive unless Japan pulls out its troups from Iraq in a letter addressed to 'our friends the Japanese people'. The Japanese base in Sammawa was also targetted by mortars. I found it particularly interesting that while Al-Jazeera displayed most of the tape, it did not display the part where the masked men held knives to the neck of the wailing Japanese woman while screaming "Allahu Akbar!". What? too hard for Arab feelings?

The situation in Ammara, Basrah, and Diwaniya seems to have settled down partially. The British have regained control over there, according to AYS who is blogging from Basrah (I hope he doesn't get stuck there). Spanish commanders met with tribal and religious dignitaries in Diwaniya who promised to disarm the people and maintain order in the city.

Preparations for the Shi'ite Arba'ieniya religious holiday are ongoing despite the unstable situation. Arba'ien means forty, and Shia commemorate the death of Imam Al-Hussein (Muhammed's grandson and Shia saint) again on this day which comes forty days after 10th of Muharram (the day Hussein was killed). I don't know where this Iraqi practice of remembering the dead after forty days of their death comes from. Anyway, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shi'ites have already started marching to Karbala on foot. Under the present circumstances and with the absence of IP and security forces in the city, I fail to see how a major terrorist attack is going to be prevented this time, another large scale attack against the Shi'ite pilgrims will probably inflame the already deteriorating situation even further.

a friend of mine told me today that he had been in contact with some clients who were members of Al-Mahdi Army, he said that they all received salaries from Sadr's offices throughout Iraq in US dollars. I asked him where he thought the money came from, he gave me a wry smile and said what do you think? "Iran?" I offered, and he nodded back in silence.

What troubles me is that the whole situation has so many parallels with the uprising against the British in 1920 (Thawrat Al-Ishrin). History repeating itself, it troubles me because that would mean that Iraqis have not matured as a people for the last hundred years. That one was sparked by the arrest of a prominent tribal sheikh by the British and then all hell broke loose. Shi'ite Ayatollahs and Sunni Imams called for Jihad and several cities in the south were 'liberated'. It lasted for a few months and resulted in 2000 British killed and thousands more Iraqis dead. After the revolt was crushed, and King Faisal installed as monarch of Iraq, there were supposed to be elections for a National Assembly (sounds familiar?) to write a constitution. Of course, the Hawza issued fatwas for Iraqis to boycott the polls. Abdul Mohsen Al-Sa'dun, prime minister at the time, responded by arresting all the Ayatollahs and exiling them to Iran on the grounds that they were Iranian citizens and had no right to interfere with Iraqi matters (Iraqis were tough back then). Public outrage followed this in most Iraqi cities but the government stood firm against it, so in the end Iraqis went about their business. After a few months, the exiled Ayatollahs pleaded the Iraqi government to return to Iraq (because they were not up to the competition with the other Ayatollahs in Iran) and that they would keep out of politics from now on, the Iraqi government welcomed them back, and that was that. The Hawza kept out of politics, until the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Al-Khomeini came to Najaf in the sixties and started poisoning the minds of the Iraqi Shia clergy. But that is a long story which I may write about in another blog since it is relevant to the current events in Iraq.

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Excerpted from today's *Healing Iraq* blog:

* * *

It is becoming increasingly evident from all the violence we have witnessed over the last year, that a proxy war is being waged against the US on Iraqi soil by several countries and powers with Iraqis as the fuel and the fire, just like Lebanon was during the late seventies and eighties. The majority of Arab regimes have a huge interest in this situation continuing, not to mention Iran, and Al-Qaeda. I am not trying, of course, to lift the blame from Iraqis, because if Iraqis were not so divided the way they are, these powers would have never succeeded. I never thought that Iraqis would be so self-destructive, I thought that they had enough of that. But with each new day I am more and more convinced that we need our own civil war to sort it all out. It might take another 5, 10, or even 20 years, and hundreds of thousands more dead Iraqis but I believe it would be inevitable. Yugoslavia, South Africa, Lebanon, Algiers, and Sudan did not achieve the relative peace and stability they now enjoy if it weren't for their long years of civil war. If the 'resistance' succeeded and 'liberated' Iraq, the country would immediately be torn into 3, 4, 5 or more parts with each faction, militia, or army struggling to control Baghdad, Kirkuk, Najaf, Karbala, and the oil fields. It will not be a sectarian war as many would imagine, it would be a war between militias. We already have up to 5 official militias, not to mention the various religious groups and armies.

It is the most foolish and selfish thing to say "pull the troops out", or "replace them with the UN or NATO". Someone has to see us through this mess to the end. Only a deluded utopian (or an idiot peace activist) would believe that Iraqis would all cosily sit down and settle down their endless disputes without AK-47's, RPG's, or mortars in the event of coalition troops abandoning Iraq. Please please don't get me wrong, I am not in the least saying that I enjoy being occupied by a foreign force, I am not a dreamer who believes that the USA is here for altruistic reasons, I am not saying that I am happy with what my bleeding country is going through, believe me when I say it tears my heart every day to witness all the bloodshed, it pains me immensely to see that we have no leaders whomsoever with the interest and well-being of Iraq as their primary goal, it kills me to see how blind and ignorant we have all become. Iraqis are dying inside every day, and we are committing suicide over and over and over. Some people call me a traitor or a collaborator for all the above and for speaking the truth as opposed to rhetorical, fiery speeches which have been our downfall.

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From a second Iraqi blog, *The Mesopotamian*:

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Hi Friends,

I hope you all realize that a major objective of the enemy is to produce defeatism in the U.S. and allied nations home front, counting on the democratic process to force the hand of policy makers. The War in fact never stopped from the first day of the fall of the Icon. All the events you have witnessed are part of a sustained and escalating campaign by all the forces opposed to the â??Projectâ?