Iraq Sadr to disband militia if clerics give order

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will consult senior religious leaders and disband his Mehdi Army militia if they instruct him to, a senior aide said on Monday.

The surprise announcement was the first time Sadr has proposed dissolving the Mehdi Army, one of the principle actors in Iraq's five-year-old conflict and the main opponent of U.S. and Iraqi forces during a recent upsurge in fighting.

It came on the day Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, in a television interview, ordered the Mehdi Army to disband or Sadr's followers would be excluded from Iraqi political life.

Senior aide Hassan Zargani said Sadr would seek rulings from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric, as well as senior Shi'ite clergy based in Iran, on whether to dissolve the Mehdi Army, and would obey their order


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080407/wl_nm/iraq_dc

[acmavm]

1. As someone else here once said "the check cleared the bank".

[gear_head]

2. this garbage is intended for dimwitted people in the West ...

smoke and mirrors

[drobert_bfm]

3. WRONG

It's meant for the consumption of the local Iraqi population. If Al-Sadr comes back and says that senior religious authorities told him not to put his weapons down, it will put enormous pressure on Maliki to end his attempt at eradicating the Sadrists. If they tell him to give up his weapons, and he obeys, it'll give him enormous political credibility.

It's a win-win for Al-Sadr, and a lose-lose for Maliki. He's playing Maliki like a fiddle...

ALSO: He shows himself to be a humble cleric, taking his direction from God's representatives; Maliki is once again seen as taking his orders from Washington...

[gear_head]

4. all that Maliki has to do is wait

as Sadr's forces are eradicated or run off

[greiner3]

5. I'm sure that you forgot your sarcasm button.

[annabanana]

8. please check back after his peaceful demonstration on Wednesday. . .n/t

[NickB79]

18. How many decades are you willing to wait?

Because we heard that exact same statement 2 years ago during the last Sadrist uprising.

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. Disbanding the militia will not decrease violence, it will INCREASE it. - Sadr knows that.

.
.
.

The militia is sort of "controlled" right now

disbanding it will leave 10's of thousands of trained warriors on the loose - with no control.

USA disbanded the Iraqi Army in 2003

That worked well.

[Myrina]

7. Wait, wasn't he one of the Several Al Queda "#3's" we killed?

I'm so confused. :shrug:

[robcon]

9. Saving face: letting the clerics decide.

n/t

[pinto]

10. Sadr appears to be playing this (very deadly) political game pretty deftly.

And, I think if Ahamdenijad - and his inflammatory rhetoric - were replaced with a more diplomatic figure head in Iran, the inevitable Iranian role in the area would gain some credence in the West. At least in the short term.

I still think we are watching the gradual partitioning of Iraq...

[tama]

17. Nope

It's not about Ahmedinejad's rhetoric or this or that rhetoric. It's about life or death realpolitik issue, US fear of loosing its petrodollar monopoly (ie. the imperial monopoly of "buying" oil by just printing more dollars and exporting inflation) which Iran's oil bourse is perceived threatening by US.

[WhiteTara]

11. Iraq's Sadr to disband Mehdi Army if clerics order

Source: Reuters

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr offered on Monday to disband his militia if the highest Shi'ite religious authority demand it, a shock announcement at a time when the group is the focus of an upsurge in fighting. ADVERTISEMENT



It was the first time Sadr has offered to dissolve the Mehdi Army militia, whose black-masked fighters have been principle actors throughout Iraq's five-year-old war and the main foes of U.S. and Iraqi forces in widespread battles over recent weeks.

The news came on the day Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who launched a crackdown on the militia late last month, ordered the Mehdi Army to disband or Sadr's followers would be excluded from Iraqi political life.

Senior Sadr aide Hassan Zargani said Sadr would seek rulings from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric, as well as senior Shi'ite clergy based in Iran, on whether to dissolve the Mehdi Army, and would obey their orders.

"If they order the Mehdi Army to disband, Moqtada al-Sadr and the Sadr movement will obey the orders of the religious leaders," Zargani told Reuters from neighboring Iran, where U.S. officials say Sadr has spent most of the past year.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080407/wl_nm/iraq_dc

[Teaser]

12. yeah, sure

I'm sure he'll really disband his militia. 100%.

[wtmusic]

13. For MAS a good consolidation move

It will force al-Sistani to tacitly side with the Mehdi Army.

The army ain't going nowhere.

[Teaser]

15. Excellent analysis

Let's see, will Sistani tell MAS to disband the Mahdi army (JaM) nwithout issuing similar decrees to Badr, Fadhila, and Dawa's militias? Doubtful, but possible. But Sistani is smart enough to know that the organizational structure of the JaM is something of a restraining influence on a large number of angry young shiite men with guns.

Where will those men go if JaM disbands? In many cases, into even more unsavory occupations. Nobody wins in that scenario.

Most likely outcome, if he rules at all, as-Sistani will issue some kind of ambiguous milktoast decision that resolves little. It's the best way to keep his credibility without risking it by taking sides.

[underpants]

14. "decisive" ? Sistani gets a one-line summary and he is "decisive"??

Sistani, who almost never leaves his house in Najaf, has intervened in Iraqi politics only a handful of times but on each occasion his rulings have been decisive.


:rofl:

Okay kids quick review

Bush and Rummy want the US military to appoint governors and government officials-Sistani says NO

Bush comes out and declares that that plan has changed

Bush says that he will have the military (Rummy Fife etc.) pick local leaders to elect the governors and government officials-Sistani says ONE MAN ONE VOTE

Bush says that he has decided that it will be ONE MAN ONE VOTE

Bush wants elections delayed-Ssitani organizes a MASSIVE protest within two days

Bush says that no delay is needed


:eyes:

Sistani has been more than "decisive" he is the only reason this whole thing hasn't completely blown up.

[Teaser]

16. unfortunately, as-Sistani's influence is much eroded

these days. The Green Zone Mafia has found lots of created ways to duck the intent of Sistani's rulings in the last two years.