Will Sadr be forced to declare open war?

Posted by Skycypher on Wednesday, April 23rd 2008

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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23
Apr

The Real Story: Behind Sadr’s warning to the US lies an unavoidable fact - he holds critical cards

Tuesday April 22nd, 2008

In this three part story on “Who is Muqtada al Sadr”, Senior News Editor Paul Jay introduces the context . . . Sadr’s call for all out war until liberation if the attacks on Sadr city do not end.

The Real News Analyst Pepe Escobar introduces Sadr in his own words with clips from a rare interview with Al Jazeera.

Patrick Cockburn, author of the book Muqtada, tells Pepe Escobar that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s recent military offensive against al-Sadr may be an attempt to control the outcome of provisional elections to be held this fall, which al-Sadr and his allies are likely to win. Cockburn concludes a new phase in the war may have started, where large sections of Shia militias enter the fight against US occupation.

Patrick Cockburn is an Irish journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent since 1979 for the Financial Times and, presently, The Independent. Among the most experienced commentators on Iraq, he has written four books on the country’s recent history. Cockburn’s latest book is Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq.

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2 Comments Already

Skycypher Said,

April 23rd, 2008 @4:56 am

Moqtada Sadr said he was giving the government a “last warning”, and urged it to take “the path of peace“.

His statement came as Iraqi troops, with US and UK support, clashed with his forces in Baghdad and the south.

In August the cleric’s militia declared a ceasefire, pledging not to attack government or foreign soldiers.

“I’m giving the last warning and the last word to the Iraqi government,” Moqtada Sadr said.

“Either it comes to its senses and takes the path of peace… or it will be (seen as) the same as the previous government,” he added, referring to former President Saddam Hussein’s fallen regime.

“If it does not stop the militias that have infiltrated the government, then we will declare an open war until liberation,” he added.

Skycypher Said,

April 23rd, 2008 @5:19 am

Keith Olbermann’s Worst Person of the Day comment:

And finally, we have my personal nominee for Worst. Secretary of State. Ever. Condoleezza Rice and her tone-deaf taunting of Muqtada al-Sadr which, as Olbermann points out, can only lead to certain conclusions about Rice’s motives:

Nobody has any use for (al-Sadr), but it’s interesting to note that ever since he agreed to a government request from the Iraqis for a cease-fire for his part of the insurgency – still the most effective part of the insurgency – we’ve called him a loser because he went for that cease-fire, and now the Secretary of State is calling him a coward. See, Madam Secretary, you keep mocking this bozo and it begins to look like you want him to start the full-scale bloodshed, because that of course would make it easier for you to keep this damn war going. And even if that’s not the motive, who was it who wrote, ‘if you make your enemy look foolish, you lose the justification for taking him on’? Oh yeah, the author John LeCarre, who started out life as David Cornwell, British spy and diplomat.

Diplomacy? I don’t think that Condi plays that. Oh hell, let’s be honest, nobody in the Bush administration does.