Sadr Calls on Iraq Govt. to Quit, Vows to Fight on...

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Friday urged Iraq (news - web sites)'s "dictatorial" interim government to resign and said his militia would fight U.S. forces in the holy city of Najaf until death or victory, his spokesman said.

The spokesman quoted Sadr as telling supporters at Imam Ali Mosque: "I advise the dictatorial, agent government to resign ... the whole Iraqi people demands the resignation of the government ... they replaced Saddam with a government worse than him."

"I will not leave this holy city," the spokesman quoted Sadr as telling supporters who chanted "No, no to America."

"We will remain here defending the holy shrines till victory or martyrdom."

Sadr's Mehdi Army militia have been battling U.S. and Iraqi government troops in Najaf for more than a week.

He warned supporters that a truce in the city might be a ploy to trick his men into laying down their weapons. Sadr urged supporters in other cities in central and southern Iraq to continue their uprising, saying the truce was restricted to Najaf.


Spokesmen earlier said Sadr had been wounded in predawn operations by U.S. forces.






http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20040813/ts_nm/iraq_sadr_defiance_dc

Asking for Allawi to resign. America is the only protector that Allawi has, and he is betting his life on the US.

of them. There is only 145,000 of us. Guess who will win in the end?

is likely to burn down what hopes moderate Iraqis had for a democratic future.

Bush got us in a terrible mess. In terms of al-Sadr we're in a situation where we can only do one of two things and the consequenses of either is probably horrific: if we (or the Iraqi forces) don't capture or kill al-Sadr, he'll declare victory and, with his newly elevated status (we elevate him each time we back down), he may have to power and occasion to throw Iraq into cival war; if we (or Iraqis) _do_ go in and get him, he's likely to become a martyr for both fervent Shi'ites and Sunnis (There have been Sunni demonstrations against our attacking Najaf in the last day).

I think our only hope for a non-horrific outcome is to kill or capture him. I'm not waving a red flag for agrument's sake, but simply making a historical observation: if we don't get him, there WILL be hell to pay for certain; if we get him there MAY be hell to pay. IMHO.

We may well simply hide behind the skirts of Iraqi sovereignty. If so, watch Iraq tear apart over the next several weeks with the resultant death and destruction, destabilization of region, utter loss of American credibility, etc.

Thanks W.

How right you are.

I think they just tried to kill or capture him, and are now
realizing what a mistake that was ...

He is, largely, a creature of our own making, but I think it
is too late to unmake him now, this last little fandango is
just putting the icing on the cake, so to speak.

You thought "moderate Iraqis" had hope for a democratic future?

But whatever hopes there were, are quickly fading.

We capture him and turn him over to our puppets to execute.

US onslaught on Najaf triggers protests and fighting across Iraq
By Peter Symonds
14 August 2004

There is no doubt that the real criminals—the US and its Iraqi collaborators—are poised to use their vastly superior military means to finish off the Madhi Army in a massacre. What has forced a temporary pause in the fighting is concern, in Baghdad and Washington, over the political backlash such a bloodbath would cause.

Outrage over the US actions in Najaf has led to a series of public protests as well as open armed conflict in other cities in the predominantly Shiite south of Iraq. Even the loyal defenders of the US occupation have been compelled to acknowledge the extent of public hostility. Saad Jawal, a spokesman for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), declared yesterday: “The people feel anger. They feel the (Shiite community) has been attacked by American forces.”

On Thursday, about 5,000 protesters took to the streets of the southern city of Basra, demanding the withdrawal of US forces from Najaf and condemning Allawi for working for the US. A Madhi Army commander Sheikh Saad al-Basri warned: “If peaceful demonstrations do not work we will take the path of jihad in defence of our country.”

Protester Hasan Ali Abdul-Wahid told the media: “We condemn the criminal acts done by the occupation forces and the Najaf police against our people in Najaf.” Abed Jassim angrily denounced the prime minister declaring: “Allawi and the governor of Najaf are responsible for this massacre. They provided protection for the Americans to kill the Shiites.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/aug2004/iraq-a14.shtml

and thank God for Al Jazeera which is still reporting
along with video. I'd like more journalists on the ground
reporting from those 14 military bases being constructed...

http://www.juancole.com

Saturday, August 14, 2004
Muqtada Press Conference: "No Ordinary Politics Under Occupation"

The one-day truce in Najaf has collapsed. And, even the council of tribal chieftains in the Middle Euphrates, a previously pro-American group, has issued a statement condemning the "barbaric massacres perpetrated by the United States in Najaf," according to al-Jazeerah's crawl.

Just saw a long press conference with Muqtada al-Sadr on Saturday on al-Jazeerah (an "exclusive.") Although its Baghdad bureau is closed, al-Jazeerah still gets lots of video from Iraq and apparently can use local stringers to report from the scene. They also do telephone interviews.

Muqtada declared that "Najaf has triumphed over imperialism and imperial hubris" (al-isti`mar wa al-istikbar). Like Bush, Muqtada is extremely clever in using rhetoric that identifies his interests with those of his people. He has represented the stand-off around the shrine of Imam Ali as a "victory" of "Najaf" over the US Marines. In essence, he has made himself stand for Najaf. No one should underestimate the power of a proclamation such as "Najaf has triumphed over imperialism" in the Muslim world. Hndreds of his fighters were summarily blown away by the US military, which has taken most of the city (reducing some of it to rubble and repeatedly bombing a sacred cementery) and surrounded the Mahdi Army in the shrine. You would think that people would laugh at this situation being called "a triumph of Najaf." But no one is laughing, and in fact there are pro-Muqtada demonstrations all over Iraq, including in the hard line Sunni areas (!), and insurgencies. Indeed, there have been big demonstrations in Iran, Bahrain and Pakistan as well as in Iraq.

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