Al-Sadr's rising power in Iraq is growing concern for Shiites, U.S.

Sunday, February 19, 2006
Al-Sadr's rising power in Iraq is growing concern for Shiites, U.S.


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq

Barely 18 months ago Muqtada al-Sadr was a man on the run, wanted for murder and holed up with a band of fighters in a mosque besieged by U.S. troops.

Fast forward to February 2006 and the young Shiite cleric is a kingmaker with so much clout that he engineered a stunning political coup, helping Ibrahim al-Jaafari win approval for a second term as prime minister with significant consequences for Iraq and the United States.

Al-Sadr pulled it off while visiting Syria for talks with its hard-line leadership, long accused of allowing insurgent leaders to remain on its soil and turning a blind eye to foreign jihadists using its territory to slip into Iraq to fight U.S. forces.

The single-vote victory by al-Jaafari over his heavily favored rival has showcased al-Sadr's ascent in post-Saddam Iraq - a matter of concern to others in the Shiite establishment as well as the United States.

Officials of the Shiite alliance say that the Sadrists' intervention in favor of al-Jaafari may have endangered Shiite unity, jeopardized the alliance's close links to the Kurds and could prompt some of the alliance's partners to join other blocs.

They hinted that intimidation, or even veiled threats of violence, may have been used by the Sadrists to help independent legislators make up their minds.


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He waits and watches and networks and keeps silent.
His power is unknown at this time.
I think he might surprise us with some shock and awe of his own.

He led an insurgency after realizing the Americans wern't about to hire them back.

The United States should keep there nose out of there business and let them run there own country. this country is made up of hypocrisy we only are for democracy when someone we like is the winner.

He appeals to Iraqi pride, and his unyielding demand that the US leave has won the allegiance of many Sunnis.

He may be the most powerful man in Iraq.

He's definitely been busy of late.

Jordan's King Abdullah II, left, receives radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, right, in Amman, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2006. Al-Sadr stepped up calls on Saturday for the United States and other foreign troops to leave his country, saying that should be the priority of the new Iraqi government. (AP Photo/Yousef Allan, Royal Palace)

Charismatic native leaders that are not stooges are like toadstools, they keep popping up.

is considered a "firebrand" cleric in Iraq. When Paul Bremer shut down the newspaper in Baghdad, Al-Sadr led the outrage which led to demonstrations and lots of rioting.

The US considers him to be a dangerous incendiary, but Al-Sadr defers to the supreme ayatollah of Iraq, Ayatollah Al-Sistani. Al-Sistani has enormous power over the Iraqis. He's Iranian, by the way.

There are so many twists and turns to this development. I highly doubt Rumsfailed's Pentagon can follow it.

after they have exhausted themselves.