Al-Sadr's army marches again

[leftchick]

Here we go....

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Weekend/GD09Jp05.html

Over the loudspeakers set up in the small town of Gharaf, a backwater of southern Iraq, the commands came in staccato bursts. "Forward!'' a man clad in black shouts to the militiamen. "March!''

Column after column follows through the dusty, wind-swept square. Some marchers wear the funeral shawls of prospective martyrs. Others are dressed in newly-pressed camouflage. Together, their boots beat the pavement like a drum as they goose-step or double-time in place.

Over their heads fly the Iraqi flag, banners of Shiite Muslim saints and a portrait of their leader, Moqtada al-Sadr - symbols of their militia, the Mahdi Army, twice subdued by the US military last year but now openly displaying its strength in parts of the south.

``At your service, Sadr! At your service, Moqtada!'' the men chant in formation. ``We hear a voice calling us!''

``The tanks do not terrify us,'' others join in. ``We're resisting! We're resisting!''

[Robbien]

1. They were marching in PROTEST. What awful spin this is.

Not only were they marching in Protest, the military shot into the protest, per Boston Globe:

Gunmen fired on supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday, killing one person and wounding two others as they made their way to protests planned for the second anniversary of Baghdad's fall to U.S.-led troops.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/098/world/Al_Sadr_followers_hold_protest:.shtml

[leftchick]

4. I believe this is the point....

and it is an original WaPo story, you know how they have a hard time with journalism these days....


~snip~


Beyond Baghdad, though, Iraqis see a new boldness in the militia in cities like Nasiriya, Basra and Amarah, all south of the capital and all patrolled by foreign forces allied with the United States. In Basra, the Mahdi Army is widely viewed as the force that can put more armed men in the street than any other. Amarah remains its stronghold. In Nasiriya, it has struck an alliance with the secular police chief, who views the group as a counterweight to other militias.

``The silent majority is not with him, but the majority of active people are,'' said Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi Mudarrassi, a cleric in Karbala, referring to al-Sadr. ``If you count the ballot boxes, the balance is with the moderates. If you count those in the streets, it's the opposite.'' The enduring appeal of al-Sadr's militia speaks to the forces still shaping Iraq: nationalism, religion and guns.

[Robbien]

6. It worries me because this spin may be a signal the military is going

to increase their efforts against Iraq using Al-Sadr as an excuse.

[leftchick]

8. it worries me as well...

they will use anything as an excuse to escalate attacks on Iraqis.

Ironically I watched Apocalypse Now last night on AMC. Only my second viewing and the first was about 20 years ago. The parallels are unfuckingbelievable here....."The Horror"...

:(

[SnowGoose]

2. Is that a bumper sticker in your sig line

and if so, do you know where I can get one?

Thanks,
'Goose

[leftchick]

5. Right here....

http://www.cafepress.com/nostamj.14586078

[SnowGoose]

7. Thank you, thank you

ummm... I wonder if that site is still doing business, following Jeff's death?

[leftchick]

9. me too....

God I hope so. His work is fantastic and what a triute to him to have it continue.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. How soon we forget Najaf...

Somebody (probably al-Sadr himself) must've been doublecrossed in the recent parliament elections, and has pressed his bully squads back into service. Greeeeaaaat...