Posted on 02/19/2006 10:09:03 AM PST by jmc1969
Influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he rejects the Iraqi constitution backed by his partners in the biggest parliamentary bloc, threatening to reignite one of the country's most explosive issues.
Sadr, a rebel leader turned political kingmaker, said the charter was unacceptable, complicating efforts to form a government more than two months after parliamentary elections.
The young cleric, who led two armed uprisings against U.S. and Iraqi troops, has emerged as a potent force in Iraqi politics, joining the powerful United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which won 128 of 275 seats in parliament in December 15 polls.
A swing vote by Sadr's supporters in a UIA ballot on its candidate for prime minister is likely to keep the Dawa party's Ibrahim al-Jaafari in the top job in government.
Sadr's rejection of the charter could put him at the heart of one of the most sensitive sectarian issues in Iraq, where he is seen as an unpredictable but popular leader.
Sadr rose to prominence after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 by mobilizing his Mehdi Army militia to fight American troops and by speaking out for poor Shi'ites.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Looks to me like some one should take care of this radical.
al-Sadr is an Iranian sock puppet. Nothing more.
Hes just making this statement now?
Wow that fellow is on top of things
Evidently this guy doesn't realize how a democracy is suppose to work, huh? :-)
We should have killed this guy the first time he started trouhble. It just goes to show you that if you don't take care of a problem it will come back to bite you in the butt, again and again.
Just how stupid are our leaders?
I was thinking the same thing. He shouldn't be drawing air at all.
I think he realizes it, and that's why he's against the Iraqi constitution. If followed, it removes a lot of this little tyrant's power.
Iraq now has its' version of Chuck Hagel.
Why is fat boy Sadr still breathing? His thugs have killed some of America's best.
Sniper round on the way...eventually. He should be sent to his Allah so he can look over the 72 virgin camels.
Methinks, to him, Democracy means that he will have to go out and earn an honest living. I'm sure his panties in a bunch over THAT prospect.
KILL HIM........ now.
Semper Fi
I think they are naive more than stupid. The idea that bringing democracy to vampires will destroy vampirism is so naive as to almost sound brilliant. The result is only that the strongest vampires will be elected to leadership positions...but they are still bloodsuckers.
While I definitely think Saddam had to be removed because of the fear of WMD (just as Iran will be neutralized because of the nuke issue)...the war is with the true believers of islam.
I suggest our leaders are just human and are learning as they go. If you find it depressing, imagine the mess we would be in if Kerry had won. That always cheers me up.
Radical Islam and Democracy mix about as well as oil and water.
In Iraq, U.S. officials are confronting a different kind of problem. Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric once hunted by U.S. troops, last week sought to become a political kingmaker. Sadr's 32-seat faction sent the favored Shiite candidate for prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, to narrow defeat. Sadr was jubilant. "The U.S. brought democracy to the Middle East but God turned the tables and made the democratic process a weapon against the U.S.," he said on Syrian TV.
Yet even as Sadr was boasting, Iraqi politicians were beginning to rebel against his power, prodded behind the scenes by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. According to a knowledgeable official in Washington, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation, Khalilzad was sending the message that Iraq's next leaders don't want to displease America, with all of its military leverage and aid. By the end of last week it was no longer certain that Sadr's favored candidate, the mildly Islamist Ibrahim Jaafari, would become the new prime minister.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11435101/site/newsweek/
Good point. And I agree that they are learning as they go - as are we all. I will admit that I thought, initially, that some kind of functioning, non-dictatorial, non-lethal state could be built there, but that was before I knew as much about Islam as I do now. And I suspect that applies to our leaders, as well.
Plus, of course, Americans never like to think the worst of people, even when it appears to be abundantly justified.
Big mistake to let this murderer Sadr gain so much power. Get the hell out of there, it will happen sooner or later.
It was a nice try to bring these savages into the civilized world.
FAILED!
kill'im already
al-Sadr opposing federalism is not such a bad thing for Iraq's future as long as we can shut down his choice for PM we won't be in such bad shape.
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