i don't think this has been reported by the u.s. media:
A NEW IRAQI ARMY TAKES AIM AT U.S.-LED COALITION
By ORLY HALPERN
Special to The Globe and Mail
UPDATED AT 11:26 AM EDT Monday, Aug. 11, 2003
SADR CITY, IRAQ -- The lines begin to form at 6 p.m. every evening at the Ahrar religious community centre in the poor Shia district of Baghdad once known as Saddam City. Under the setting sun, men of all ages line up patiently to scrawl their signatures on a neatly printed form, prepared to die in the name of Iraq's new holy army.
This is not the new force formed and paid for by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority -- it is the Mahdi Army, and it is being created to undermine coalition forces, not help them.
"They [the coalition] are breaking laws, destroying property and killing people and they don't care -- they just say, 'Fill out a compensation form,' " said Sheik Hassan al-Zurgani, a Baghdad representative of the Shia religious council in Iraq. "This will have very bad results."
Iraq's Shia community, long oppressed under former president Saddam Hussein's rule, initially welcomed coalition forces, but many are now calling for the occupiers to leave -- or face the consequences.
"The Americans came saying they are liberators, but they are invaders. There is no friendship with invaders," Mr. al-Zurgani said. "They did help us get rid of the former regime and now we would like them to set a timetable for leaving Iraq."
In a Friday prayer sermon three weeks ago, Muqtada al-Sadr, an increasingly popular 30-year-old cleric based in the Shia holy city of Najaf, dismissed Iraq's coalition-appointed Governing Council as "Zionist" and called for his followers to form an army.
Mr. al-Sadr, a relative of two revered ayatollahs murdered by Mr. Hussein's government, is now getting his wish with the Mahdi force, which is named after a long-lost imam whose return is supposed to herald a new age. In Sadr City, where a billboard that used to feature Mr. Hussein greeting newcomers to the dilapidated area has been painted over with a Renaissance-like portrait of one of Mr. al-Sadr's famous relatives, devout Shiites who hang on his every word are signing up to form divisions.
The men are coming in droves to volunteer.
MAHDI A10
MAHDI A1
They listen to the reports of their neighbours who travelled to hear Mr. al-Sadr's sermon in person.
"I heard about the Mahdi Army when I attended the Friday sermon delivered by Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf," said Abbas Jabar, who had just signed up. "The Iraqi army of the coalition doesn't represent me and cannot protect my people. The mission of this army is to protect and defend Iraq."
One cleric drumming up recruits, Sheik Qais al-Khazraji, said this week that more than 10,000 have already signed up in Sadr City alone. Many residents of the district consider Mr. al-Sadr's word a religious order that must be acted upon.
"I am obeying an order given by a saint," said Salah Hassan, who heard about the army from a friend. "I signed up two weeks ago and all my friends have done the same."
Women have not been called to join yet but they are ready and willing at the drop of a hat.
"If they ask for women, we would be very happy to volunteer," said Nithal Hamze, a housewife and mother of five, sitting on the community centre lawn, surrounded by other women.
Nor is age an issue.
"A man came with his five-year-old son to put the boy's name down on the list," Mr. al-Khazraji said, sitting behind his desk. "We told him he's too young, but he insisted he was ready to sacrifice him."
Outside, one young recruit waited nervously for his turn to sign up.
"I don't think that I'm too young," 13-year-old Ali Hadi said, proudly proclaiming his willingness to die for his faith and his country. "Iraq belongs to us and we have to fight to protect it and our religion. We're not scared of the Americans."
The Mahdi soldiers may be unlikely to face the might of the U.S. military in the immediate future -- in Sadr City, at least, no guns have yet been distributed.
"We don't have the ability, like a state, to import weapons, but everyone has his own gun at home anyway," Mr. al-Khazraji said. "We also have our faith in God, which is much more powerful than any American weapon."
But Mr. al-Zurgani of the Shia religious council warned that the volunteers are willing and able.
"If the Americans have foul intentions, then they have reason to fear us," he said. "We will all become martyrs for the sake of Iraq."
theglobeandmail.com |
