Apparently, we forgot to include someone in the power circle in Iraq.
Muqtada al-Sadr is the grandson of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr. According to the CFR web site, Sadr inherited from his grand father a network of Shia religous schools and charities in Iraq.
So he's not only pissed, he's connected.
If you don't, I recommend you read Juan Cole. It gives you the deepest appreciation for how blind our federal gov't has been in all its dealings concerning Iraq.
JC has some prime quotage from Sadr:
Muqtada's words before he went into retreat in his mosque: "Make your enemy afraid, for it is impossible to remain quiet about their moral offenses; otherwise we have arrived at consequences that will not be praiseworthy. I am with you, and shall not forsake you to face hardships alone. I fear for you, for no benefit will come from demonstrations. Your enemy loves terrorism, and despises peoples, and all Arabs, and muzzles opinions. I beg you not to resort to demonstrations, for they have become nothing but burned paper."
I have to admire the honesty in his statement. I don't admire his radicalism, but understand it in the situation he is facing, along with his countrymen.
Juan continuesin a latter entry to list three things American media is getting wrong about Muqtada:
- Muqtada is not a fugitive, everyone knows where he is.
- Muqtada has 10,000 active militia, but is connected with up to 5 million Shiites who may be mobilized in his support in some capacity.
- The Iraqi judge who issued the arrest warrant is nothing more than a CPA mouthpiece, effectively an American government spokesman.
Juan uses terms bordering on the paramilitary to describe the organization of Muqtada's supporters. In another post, I read someone describe the Moslem religion as heavily influenced by military organization. I think that freed from Hussein's oppression, these people will explode on CPA troops, expressing the pent up rage of 25 years on whoever's in charge (the CPA).
I think it's clear now that Bush will not be reelected. However, nothing about this situation should feel victorious to any one.