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MowCowWhoHow III

(2,103 posts)
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 06:23 PM Jul 2016

Iraqi Shi'ite cleric tells followers to target U.S. troops fighting Islamic State

Source: Reuters

Powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr instructed his followers on Sunday to target U.S. troops deploying to Iraq as part of the military campaign against Islamic State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday the Pentagon would dispatch 560 additional troops to help Iraqi forces retake the northern city of Mosul in an offensive planned for later this year.

Sadr, who rose to prominence when his Mahdi Army battled U.S. troops after the 2003 invasion, posted the comments on his official website after a follower asked for his response to the announcement.

"They are a target for us," Sadr said, without offering details.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-usa-idUSKCN0ZX0XL?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29

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Iraqi Shi'ite cleric tells followers to target U.S. troops fighting Islamic State (Original Post) MowCowWhoHow III Jul 2016 OP
Well, that was pretty cryptic. n/t uawchild Jul 2016 #1
That's going to complicate things a bit Red Mountain Jul 2016 #2
Sadr is staying out of pickup trucks... Archae Jul 2016 #3
Why was this a story? uawchild Jul 2016 #4
I think Sadr is feeling neglected... Archae Jul 2016 #5
Yeah but he didn't even say much uawchild Jul 2016 #7
Sadr is NOT a minor warlord, he is a major leader of the Shiites, as had his father been. happyslug Jul 2016 #13
Thanks for a very informative post uawchild Jul 2016 #14
Just a little background about this problem ... Jopin Klobe Jul 2016 #6
Two can play at that game Renew Deal Jul 2016 #8
Well at least we now have both Sunni (ISIS) and Shi'ite fighting against us Botany Jul 2016 #9
I would approve a drone attack on his ass. FLPanhandle Jul 2016 #10
I have noticed a few news pieces about Shiite being fed up with US in Iraq Backwoodsrider Jul 2016 #11
al Sadr has wanted us out since around 2003 if I remember right. bemildred Jul 2016 #12
He's keeping up his street cred maxsolomon Jul 2016 #15

uawchild

(2,208 posts)
4. Why was this a story?
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 06:41 PM
Jul 2016

Minor war lord/ clan leader posts a sentence on Facebook was it? lol Ok it was really his official website, but still. C'mon.

What's the real narrative that this story us trying to push? That our enemy is now the Iraqi Shia?

Very strange story in regards to why it's even a story.

Archae

(46,260 posts)
5. I think Sadr is feeling neglected...
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 06:48 PM
Jul 2016

He was the big guy a few years ago, getting all sorts of attention and publicity, now ISIS is getting all the attention in Iraq, so Sadr is making stupid remarks to get attention.

uawchild

(2,208 posts)
7. Yeah but he didn't even say much
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 06:51 PM
Jul 2016

Does someone want him dead now?

I think your hellfire missile remark is on target, pun intended.

 

happyslug

(14,779 posts)
13. Sadr is NOT a minor warlord, he is a major leader of the Shiites, as had his father been.
Mon Jul 18, 2016, 12:39 PM
Jul 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muqtada_al-Sadr

Both his father and Father in law (who was also his uncle, marrying cousins is the norm in Iraq) were high ranking Shiite leaders:

Muqtada al-Sadr is the fourth son of a famous Iraqi Shi'a cleric, the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. He is also the son-in-law of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr.

Muqtada al-Sadr is of Iraqi and Iranian ancestry. His great-grandfather is Ismail as-Sadr. Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, Muqtada al-Sadr's father, was a respected figure throughout the Shi'a Islamic world. He was murdered, along with two of his sons, allegedly by the government of Saddam Hussein. Muqtada's father-in-law was executed by the Iraqi authorities in 1980. Muqtada is a cousin of the disappeared Musa al-Sadr, the Iranian-Lebanese founder of the popular Amal Movement.[7]

In 1994, al-Sadr married one of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's daughters.[8] He has no children.[8]


His father was a major opposition of Saddam, till Saddam had him killed in 1999:

Sometime before his death, al-Sadr was informed of Saddam's limited patience with him. In defiance, al-Sadr wore his death shroud to his final Friday sermon to show that the Shi'ites would not be intimidated by Saddam's oppression and that Sadr would preach the truth even if it meant his own death. He was later killed leaving the mosque in the Iraqi city of Najaf along with two of his sons as they drove through the town.[1][2] Their car was ambushed by men, and both his sons were killed by gunfire while he was severely injured. He died an hour later in the hospital. Shi'as in Iraq, as well as most international observers, suspect the Iraqi Baathist government of being involved in, if not directly responsible, for their murders. Anger at, among other things, the government's involvement in Sadr's death helped spark the 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq. Saddam later vows to hunt the perpetrators who assassinated Sadr and calls for Shia-Sunni unity in Iraq.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mohammad_Sadeq_al-Sadr


Just a comment, the Sadr is probably the most important person in Iraq (with the possible exception of the present Ali al-Sistani of Iraq).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_al-Sistani

uawchild

(2,208 posts)
14. Thanks for a very informative post
Mon Jul 18, 2016, 12:48 PM
Jul 2016

I stand corrected, he's obviously not a minor warlord.

Again, thanks.

I do feel that his brief and vague comment that was the subject of the OP article is being over blown in our press, possibly for political reasons.

Jopin Klobe

(779 posts)
6. Just a little background about this problem ...
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 06:51 PM
Jul 2016

"Former Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith is claiming President George W. Bush was unaware that there were two major sects of Islam just two months before the President ordered troops to invade Iraq, RAW STORY has learned. In his new book, 'The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created A War Without End', Galbraith, the son of the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith, claims that American leadership knew very little about the nature of Iraqi society and the problems it would face after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein." ...
[link:http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/ambassador_bush_didnt_know_there_were_two_sects_of_islam/|

... "Those that live by the dumbass ... die by the dumbass." ...

Botany

(70,288 posts)
9. Well at least we now have both Sunni (ISIS) and Shi'ite fighting against us
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 07:17 PM
Jul 2016

Less then 2 months before W started his unneeded war in Iraq to make $$$$ for
Dick Cheney he didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.


Backwoodsrider

(764 posts)
11. I have noticed a few news pieces about Shiite being fed up with US in Iraq
Sun Jul 17, 2016, 10:10 PM
Jul 2016

Not sure if press is building the US military a nother enemy for us to drop our bombs on or the Shiite have tired of the financial gifts the US is giving them to stay on our side. Either way I am afraid its going to be a long hot summer.

As far as bombing Sadr I don't think him getting killed would go over very well with ANY Shiite and would probably start a fire storm in Baghdad proper.

Either way I think this statement by Sadr is a major happening, stay tuned.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
12. al Sadr has wanted us out since around 2003 if I remember right.
Mon Jul 18, 2016, 08:06 AM
Jul 2016

I don't think this necessarily means he is going to start having his minions attack us now, but it does mean Ash Carter better not get big ideas.

maxsolomon

(32,976 posts)
15. He's keeping up his street cred
Mon Jul 18, 2016, 05:06 PM
Jul 2016

While the US does the heavy lifting in the ISIL-controlled Sunni areas of Iraq, that he has no intention of ever setting foot in.

The Shiia have no intention of targeting these troops, if they can even find them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

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