Islamist militias patrolling Basra ("a republic of fear")

[Barrett808]

Islamist militias patrolling Basra
Sunday, April 24, 2005
By Delphine Minoui, Special to the Post-Gazette

BASRA, Iraq -- Sheikh Assad al-Basri says there's no need to worry that he and his Islamist militiamen might recreate a repressive Iranian-style theocracy in Iraq.

That's because the Islamic Republic of Iran is far too liberal, according to Basri, the leading local representative of rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

"Only 5 percent of Iranians abide by real Islamic laws," said Basri, who boasts that he and his cohorts already have blown up most of Basra's liquor stores, punished "decadent picnickers" and imposed Islamic dress codes on women. "The rest of Iranians are corrupt. Look, there are drugs and girls who don't wear hijab well in Iran."

Iraq's new Shiite-led national government vows it will respect and tolerate all of the country's religious and ethnic groups and will create a model democratic constitution for a region gripped by Islamic fervor.

But on the streets of this once-liberal port city -- which years ago featured a row of casinos and bars along its waterfront -- Islamist militias already have begun imposing a harsh version of Islamic law that has shocked many residents.

"They have managed to impose a republic of fear," said Yasser Qassim, a local journalist who publishes stories under a pen name out of fear for his safety.

(more)

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05114/493468.stm

[Frederik]

1. Wasn't Basra

supposed to be the success story in Iraq?

[leftchick]

7. Yes indeed! "Peaceful Basra"

another chimp success story, much like Fallujah! :eyes:

[Zorra]

12. The success is the creation of a repressive conservative, fundamentalist

religious state like Bush and the republicans are creating in the US.

[ixion]

2. republic of fear: Iraq, Afganistan, 'Murika and beyond... BushCo calls it

'spreading democracy'. :eyes:

[SoCalDem]

3. The "new" Taliban?

Oppression is an effective "tool", and this tactic will spread throughout Iraq.. There is a lot at stake here, and the US is apparently content to retreat to the "out-of-the-way" bases they have constricted, so the Iraqi people are effectively "human shields"//

This will continue,until all-out civil war breaks out.. Afghanistan is an apt model.. How many years did their "wars" last?? Look at what's left...:(

[Barrett808]

4. This is the dirty little secret of Southern Iraq

The British basically ceded S. Iraq to fundamentalist Islamic militias, in order to minimize provocative encounters. It was obvious to anybody with eyes that this would be the result.

[wookie294]

6. Even Halliburton has ended oil operations in Southern Iraq

Halliburton ends Iraq contract one-year early amid surging violence

WASHINGTON, April 22 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- Halliburton announced today the "completion" of its contract with the Pentagon to restore Iraq's dilapidated oil infrastructure. The announcement came as a surprise since the U.S. State Department reported last week that Iraq's oil infrastructure is far from restored. The report said guerrilla attacks, the decrepit state of oil facilities and delays in repairs have reduced Iraq's oil exports since last fall.

The contract completed by Halliburton is known as Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO), which was awarded to the KBR subsidiary in March 2003 without competitive bidding. A follow-on RIO contract was awarded in January 2004 and had been expected to run for up to two years, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, in a conference call with investors today, the company said the contract ended during the first quarter of 2005, one year earlier than expected.



http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/earnings042205.html

[Igel]

8. Are these the same British that everybody held up as a model

of the way the US should have handled it?

[aneerkoinos]

5. The North-wind and the Sun

The lesson of that fable is so fucking simple, there is reaction analogical to every action. But will they ever learn? Nope.

[Igel]

9. Yeah, that freedom-loving al-Sadr.

There's a reason civilized societies don't allow private militias to run wild imposing their own views on citizens while the police sit around with their thumbs up their ...

They should have ended his militia when they had the chance, and allowed courts to arrest al-Sadr for the Khoei murder charges. But, no, that would have been fascist.

[NNN0LHI]

10. There were no private militias running around Iraq before the US invaded

Did you forget that?

Don

[Igel]

13. You're absolutely right.

From that I conclude we obviously sponsor al-Sadr.

There were also no militias running around in Yugoslavia before died and Milosevic lost his grip on things.

But I can easily disapprove of both immediate cause and the consequence. Disapproving of one in no way logically implies, or even hints at, approving of the other. Or did I miss that in my implicature readings?

Al-Sadr's a thug, whatever his provenance, and however he got to be that way. Had he arrived at this junction by some other route, I would say the same thing; and his opposition to * decreases his stench not in the least, neither does his ersatz patriotism make it smell more of attar.

[aneerkoinos]

11. Yup

US private militia go home and stop running wild imposing the view of your corporate masters on citizens of other countries!

[wookie294]

14. Arresting Sadr would have given him MORE power in Iraq n/t

[Barrett808]

15. Really, and I wouldn't put anything this stupid past BushCo n/t