Prominent Iraqi Shiite Cleric Vows to Set Up Rival Body and Shiite Army

[NNN0LHI]

Hi Mods. I modified this headline slightly for the sole purpose of clarity as per DU rules. The original was too long for the DU board to make any sense if I did not. I have included the actual headline below. Thank you. Don

Prominent Shiite Cleric Denounces U.S.-Picked Council, Vows to Set Up Rival Body and Shiite Army

KUFA, Iraq (AP) - An influential Shiite Muslim cleric condemned Iraq's U.S-picked Governing Council as made up of "non-believers" and vowed to create a rival body, as his followers in a historic mosque shouted "Death to America."

Muqtada al-Sadr also called on Iraqis to volunteer for an independent Shiite army, though he condemned recent attacks on U.S. troops, saying that "right now" they were not condoned by Shiite leaders.

The daily attacks that have plagued U.S. occupation forces have been blamed on Sunni Muslim followers of ousted leader Saddam Hussein. Southern Iraq, home to most of Iraq's majority Shiites, has largely been calm.

But al-Sadr's call in a Friday prayer sermon reflected the deep rejection of the U.S.-led occupation felt by some sectors of the Shiite population.

"If you ignore the Governing Council, you'll be restoring good to your country," al-Sadr - the son of a revered ayatollah, Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, who was killed by Saddam's regime in 1999 - told worshippers during a sermon at the main mosque in the holy city of Kufa.

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[jpgray]

1. Uh... they're Saddam loyalists!

Eventually the gig will be up. The opportunity cost of propping up Bush until election time will just not be worth it for the media. I just wish this mess in Iraq would be fixed NOW, and not be allowed to fester due to Rumsfeld's grandstanding promises and ethnocentrism.

[mistertrickster]

2. This is exactly why Bush I DIDN'T invade Iraq--

The father was bad, the son is worse.

[NNN0LHI]

3. Not only that

The bastard (Bush I) told them to rise up against Saddam in 1991 and we would help them if they did. They did. And we didn't. And Saddams forces tore them to shreds as Bush I did nothing. That is why we are finding the mass graves in Iraq now.

Don