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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Enigma who wrote (7030)	4/3/2003 9:33:32 AM
From: PROLIFE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Saddam Flies Banner of Islam Against U.S. Thu April 3, 2003 08:59 AM ET By Nadim Ladki BAGHDAD (Reuters) - When he came to power three decades ago, Iraq's President Saddam Hussein was a fierce advocate of secularism, socialism and Arab nationalism. But today as he battles to survive a U.S.-led invasion, the Iraqi leader is presenting himself as a holy warrior holding the banner of Islam in the face of infidels who want to remove him because of his faith. The shift seems to have been well received by many Iraqis. Two weeks after the start of the war and with U.S. forces knocking at Baghdad's gates, there has been no major uprising against Saddam's rule from the deeply religious Shi'ite majority. With Saddam portraying himself as a defender of Islam, and with deep suspicions of U.S. and British motives, Iraqi Shi'ites have remained loyal -- at least so far. A U.S. commander in the Gulf said on Thursday Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the top Shi'ite authority in Iraq, had issued an edict urging Iraqis to remain calm and not to hinder U.S. invading forces. Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said the fatwa from Sistani, who until now had said Iraqis would "stand firm against any invasion," was a significant turning point in the war. Since he crushed a revolt in southern Iraq in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam, a Sunni, began to step up the Islamic tone in some of his policies to appease the Shi'ites. As his international isolation under sanctions increased, the more he shifted toward political Islam, shedding the secular ideology of his ruling Baath Party. For the past three years, he has focused on the Islamic message, rallying Iraqis around his government as a religious duty in the face of a foreign "infidel" threat. The Islamic rhetoric is clear in his speeches and statements. Nowadays every address to the nation starts with a verse from the Koran. His sentences are full of Koranic terms. In the run up to the war, Saddam repeatedly urged jihad, or holy war, against any invaders, saying Islam calls on people to defend their land if attacked. "Carry on your duty toward God, strike at their necks and decapitate them," he told Iraqis this week in a statement calling for jihad against the invaders. "HOLY WARRIOR" Official media which used to describe Saddam as the "president leader" now refer to him as "the holy warrior, the believer leader." Pictures of him praying are shown on television or in newspapers and on posters. This contrasts sharply with the core message of the Baath Party: socialism and secularism -- which put the party at odds with the Shi'ites. Shortly after assuming the presidency in 1979, Saddam, fearing the Baath regime would be swept away by the Islamic revolution in mainly Shi'ite Iran, launched a war with Iraq's neighbor and cracked down on Shi'ite fundamentalists at home. The Shi'ites in Iraq, at least 60 percent of the population, are traditionally deeply committed to Islam and suspicious of secular ideologies. Southern Iraqi towns hold the holiest shrines for Shi'ites after Mecca. The city of Najaf is the burial place of Imam Ali, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and the fourth Caliph. The city is the main learning center of Shi'ite theology. The highest religious Shi'ite authority had almost always been based in Najaf until the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and political differences moved the seat of the Shi'ite Marji'eyah, or religious authority, to the Iranian city of Qom. Shi'ites around the world follow the Marji'eyah. The nearby town of Kerbala is where Imam Ali's son, Hussein, and his family were killed in a battle with a rival Muslim factions 1,400 years ago, an event still mourned by Shi'ites. reuters.com