By Andrew L. Jaffee, August 18, 2004
Posted on 08/18/2004 9:30:29 AM PDT by stevejackson
| BREAKING NEWS: al-Sadr to Disband Militia, Leave Imam Ali Mosque By Andrew L. Jaffee, August 18, 2004 |
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Threatened with an imminent raid of the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf by Iraqi forces, radical Islamist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to disband his militia, vacate the mosque, and "enter into the mainstream political process."
Pressure has been building against al-Sadr for quite some time now. The power-hungry cleric has been stirring up trouble in Najaf, Karbala, and Baghdad since early April. On May 21, over 2,000 Iraqis held a demonstration in the city of Karbala insisting that al-Sadr and his militiamen -- thugs -- get out of town. On May 11, about 1,000 moderate Shiite Muslims protested against al-Sadr in Najaf. Over the last two weeks, 1,800 Iraqi troops alongside 2,000 U.S. marines have been attempting to clean up the mess that Sadr and his militia have made of Najaf. The joint U.S./Iraqi forces have killed about 300 of Sadr’s 1,000 militiamen. Today, Iraqis showed an iron will in bringing stability to their own country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has lost all patience with Sadr. He made the decision to have Iraqi forces storm the Imam Ali mosque, the most holy site for Shiite Muslims and the place where Sadr was cynically holed up, and take out the trash. According to Allawi,
Iraq will not stand with arms folded. The government's position is clear and specific to ending armed manifestations, stopping acts of sabotage and making the armed men leave Najaf and the mosque.
Iraq’s interim Defense Minister Hazem Sha'alan said the Iraqi government was committed to free "Najaf city from the gang of mercenaries."
Najaf has been a major sore spot in the rebuilding of Iraq. Hopefully the removal of Sadr and his thugs will enhance the nation’s security.
Dear lord....I hope we have enough sense to not fall for this crap!!!!
That guy needs to be taken into custody, holed away for a while til he's pretty much forgotten, then disposed of quietly in a private burial ceremony -- while he's still conscious.
They can't let this guy slip away again. Grab him and put him on trial for the murder with which he was tried...or he could have an accident on his way home, oh, maybe an IED goes off as he goes by. Either way, it is time (past time) to put him away.
I would hate to be in his carpool for his new Iraqi cabinet assignment. It looks like he smells.
In other news, lefty reporters were dead wrong once again about the possibility of a general Shia uprising in support of Muck.
NEXT?
Even ignoring the obvious fact that he is a paid agent of the Iranian government.
I hope and pray we have not shed our blood and given our treasure just to have an Islamofascist state end up being established.
Sadr's going to "enter the mainstream political process". That should be interesting.
The government is going to give him AND HIS MEN AMNESTY!
The government is going to give him AND HIS MEN AMNESTY!
He wins. This was his plan all along. Make a fuss, get vilified by the Americans, act like a soon-to-be-martyr, and then, after you've gotten tons of press, enter the political process.
Yes all well and good but has agreed to buy a toothbrush ????????????
And will live to fight another day. Don't you know this GALLS our Marines who gave up their buddies, only to see this puss-pocket walk out to run for office, and no doubt become a folk hero? We are stupid.
wasn't this dirt bag under indictment ?
Sounds alot like John Kerry.
:-(
Awww! Too bad the Democrats have already had their convention.
He really doesn't have a choice except to blow up the mosque, which would curse his name for generations.
No, with the Iraq army poised to root him out, he has not other choice.
Another bully gets kicked.
Do any of them who shot and killed Americans or Iraqis from their sniper posts FACE ANY KIND OF TRIAL?
There will be some damage, but the facility won't be destroyed. Apparently it's okay so long as they do it themselves.
"...Again? I'll believe it when it actually happens."
I won't believe it even if it does happen. Sadr will be back and an even bigger pain in the hiney as per his MO.
I heard a short while ago that Mookty is now making demands. This could get interesting.
well of course, both the media scum and Iran want exactly that to happen. so far, we haven't given it to them, and that's been the smart approach.
Will Sadr live to fight another day? Perhaps, but so can we. The calculations on this after the election will be far different. Sadr is playing for time hoping for a Kerry win and subsequent US surrender, Bush needs to keep the situation under control and can't risk a huge flareup before the election.
nonsense. the plan all along was for this to spark a general Shia uprising - which would have essentially meant the US war effort would have failed, imagine even a few million Shia joining the uprising - we lose if that happens.
the "political process" in iraq means next to nothing right now.
do you realize how many of these miltia people we have killed already? with something like a 300:1 ratio?
and so what if they disarm, they can go pick up another gun a week later.
I have to wonder if this is a serious sign of failure in Iraq. So we got rid of Saddam. That is a good thing. But now we have an Iraqi government that allows terrorist thugs to be part of the political process. Is this better than Saddam? Is this worse than Saddam? Is this the same as Saddam? Perhaps I need to find the lowest common denominator. Saddam was a terrorist thug. Sadr is a terrorist thug. Are the rest of Iraqi's terrorist thugs as well?
It is often stated on FR the Islam is not a religion of peace. I have written more than once about this history of Islam and about Mohammad engaging in terrorism. Perhaps Islam is the lowest common denominator. Perhaps it is not a Saddam v. Sadr v. any other Iraqi, Iranian, Egyptian, Saudi, Palestinian, Syrian, etc. They are all Muslims. They have not irradicated terrorism. The either engagin in terrorism, sponsor terrorism or do nothing about terrorism. Perhaps it is in their makeup. This is about their religion - a religion of terrorism.
Personally, I know of only one thing to do with terrorists. You kill them - dead terrorist do not cause problems.
His campaign slogan will be -- "If you don't vote for me, I will kill you."
Isn't that an argument for killing them rather than negotiating with them?
we have been killing them, lots of them.
I'd just cut off their trigger fingers.
First time shame on you.. Second time shame on US!
apparently not enough
the jig is up! The Iraqui gov't probably has the goods on Mookie and his Iranian supporters. Fallujah will not be so pretty.
WTF??? Only thing this creep should be entering into is Hell...with his 72 beautiful virgins Helen Thomases.
Why would they allow this terrorist fanatic who has a following to have access to the political process or any office?
The deal he should have had was to have jail for life or be killed.
Anything outside of that is leaving a cancer to grow in Iraq.
It is time someone put all this "religion of peace" crap to bed. The entire Muslim world is no more than a conglomeration of uneducated, brainwashed -- unwashed, if you will -- ignoramuses led by despots and dictators who would and do sacrifice the masses to the forces of poverty and ignorance. Their leaders care only about keeping the camel jockeys stirred up about imaginary "Crusaders" in order that they don't figure out their true enemies are the leaders, themselves. Fate has played a nasty trick on the rest of us by settling this bunch of idiots on top of pools of oil; the only real asset they have, and it is a shame we have to put up with them in order to keep our economy going.
I wonder if you could think of any in our government that could be labeled as enemy combatants. Does every congressman and woman have the USA in thier best intrests?
John Kerry is deeply sadned, Iraq government working (kinda) on it's own.
"He really doesn't have a choice except to blow up the mosque..."
We should have bombed the mosque days ago. This PC stuff is going to be the death of our country.
"Al-Sadr Demands Ceasefire in Najaf Before Disarming"
Don't ya just know his supporter's are leaving from Iran about now with more help for Fatboy?
if we've killed enough to get some deal to get that mosque freed - let's take that now.
I suspect he will be assasinated if he truly disbands his band of terrorist protectors. Carbombs can be a two edged sword.
And if the terrorists have succeeded in assasinating some of the Iraqi government... you can bet the Iraqi government is capable of doing the same, especially if he forced into disbanding his security apparatus... the band of thugs.
I think he is a dead man walking... and at a time of our choosing, "toast" will become the operative word for ole mookie. Maybe a simple heart attack.
...until tomorrow, or Friday at the latest.
Isn't it amazing that when these radical "fight until the last blood is shed" leaders are faced with imminent death of their own that "peace" seems to be a refreshing alternative! May we not back up an inch and continue to take the fight to the terrorists!
Voting for Iraqi Council Off to Chaotic Start=The group leader told his colleagues they had not actually met with radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr,,,,,,,SAME OLD CRAP ----> http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=453FB260-2022-4596-B61EC75EC9175AE6
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