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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (188000)	6/2/2006 2:40:03 AM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

"Why would they ever agree to cease to exist?" Al-Sadr led a successful insurgency against the coalition forces a few years ago. His force of a few hundred men held up in the Mosque of Ali. He is the son of a famous Mullah scholar that Saddam had assassinated. Although Al-Sadr is not considered a Mullah he has risen to power on the robe of his father. The Iraqis describe his manner of assuming power as 'quiet'. He has developed a complete shadow government that has judges and prisons and everything. Many of the people in legitimate public office are supporters of his shadow government as well. The entire coalition forces with the US forces were not able to defeat his force of a few hundred men battling them from the Mosque and the event was becoming something of a rallying embarrassment until the high Mullah from Iran (Sistani) made a long and public walk through the city to meet with him in private. They cut a (never publicized) deal that pursuaded Al-Sadr to lay down arms and leave the Mosque. He and his group are the only insurgents ever to be allowed simply to walk away. He had been preaching to his followers that the Mahdi is preparing to reveal himself and the real reason the USA is in Iraq is that they plan to murder the Mahdi when he is revealed. The Mahdi is a figure in Islamic scripture that is believed to be the high Imam of all Muslims, who became non-visible some centuries back. A prophesy that he will reveal himself near the end of time and establish a global Khalifate to rule the world is respected by both Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. Al-Sadr told his followers that he has become aware of the Mahdi and that the Army is not to be referred to as Al-Sadr's Army but Al-Mahdi's Army. As such it could never be disbanded and when they lay down their arms they are to go out and spread the word and prepare more members for Al-Mahdi's Army until it becomes the dominant force in the world. I keep hearing rumors that Al-Sadr has been neutralized but then his malitia resurfaces from the shadows in greater and greater numbers with more awesome weapons. Then it disappears again. Remember what I said about Al-Sadrs method of gaining power being 'quiet'. Why do you think he is not a high government official ... because he is unelectable? p'shaw he could have any position he wants. When his name appears in the media it is usually along with Sistani's name. We know that tremendous arms movements are going across the border from Iran into Iraq but we don't see where they end up. And why is that a problem if they agree to put down their arms? Pay attention. "And do you wonder why that is? After all, if the US that is offering Iraqis a shining democracy, liberty, and is spending hundereds of billions of dollars, then what does Sadr offer them?" The world. And he has made no secret of the fact that the USA is the primary barrier to accomplishing that goal. Sistani convinced him that the time and place during the Ali Mosque uprising was too soon. What we do know about that discussion is that Sistani convinced him that once Iraq was secure Al-Sadr would find it much easier to accomplish the goals of the Al-Mahdi Army. "Do you listen to yourself? What is it about the "right" that just makes them so blind to reality...where do you get such expectations from? Why do you even desire them? I have no idea what you are babbling about. What expectations. I am just providing information here. None of it is opinion or allegation it is simply the circumstance we are involved in. Mullah Support: "This is simply not true. It is more accurate to say as one of the main characters on Iraqi stage, Iran has found it prudent to not offend Sadr." You are wrong. Unfortunately, it is the type of over sight (or selective sightedness) that can be catastrophically world changing over time. Why is it so important to you to dismiss this as irrelevant? "Again, you can show off your grey cells if you can figure out why this is. It really isn't that complecated." I studied it and 'figured it out' years ago. Everything is simply a political left/right loyalty to you extremists. So, even though it is not complicated, I am confident you have made the usual error of political line drawing assumptions that are 'wrong' and I doubt you have a clue or that you are capable of seeing the simple truth in this. It has to do with a world view that requires, at some point, your surrender. You obviously have no clue how deep that commitment is or how huge the numbers are who back it. You really are in the dark on this whole thing. It's an easy thing to check out, do a search on the topic of 'Mahdi.' Or, and this would really be a shock to me, talk to any educated Muslim about it. (I doubt you will, unless you can figure a way to put it into the context of neocon vs leftwing extremist) Complete shadow government: "This is true for virtually every major political party in the world." Wrong again, this is very different than your usual assumptions about 'partisan loyalty'. "...Canuck here whose name escapes me now. Back in 2003 ... By the way, I provided a long description on the history and current status of Al-Sadr here in about 2003. Several people here poo-poo'd it, providing the typical obligatory hee haws, but then news came into the popular media that verified every thing I had said. No one offered a correction to their 'hee-haws' ... also typical. I can't remember if you were one of the donkeys or just one of their riders. Doesn't matter. Best regards, Gem