An Incendiary Cleric Braces His Militia for an Invasion

[Robbien]

<snip>

Mr. Sadr has barricaded himself inside the golden brick walls, refusing to surrender. His militia is prowling the streets, staring down the sights of machine guns, building fighting positions in and around the mosque, the town's biggest, and pointing rocket-propelled grenades at the highway heading north — the road they expect to see American forces come rumbling down.

"The only way the Americans will enter this city is entering over our bodies," said Sheik Abu Mahdi al-Rubayee, a commander in Mr. Sadr's private army, estimated to number in the tens of thousands. "If they come for our leader, they will ignite all of Iraq."

Kufa, a sandy, palm-lined town along the banks of the Euphrates River, is a picture of what may lie ahead if Iraqi security forces are unable to quell potential insurrections. On Sunday, as part of the uprising orchestrated by Mr. Sadr, hundreds of militiamen took over Kufa, driving out Iraqi security forces.

On Monday, blue-and-white Iraqi police trucks cruised the streets. But it was bearded, black-clad men loyal to Mr. Sadr who were driving them. The police stations and government offices are now occupied by Mr. Sadr's agents, who enforce an austere version of Islam and have even set up their own religious courts and prisons. The town is basically an occupation-free zone. "The occupation is ending," vowed Said Sadduck, 26, a disciple of Mr. Sadr. "This is just the beginning."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/06/international/middleeast/06KUFA.html

for reference Kufa is a city 100 miles south of Baghdad with 110,000 residents

[burythehatchet]

1. I'm getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach

Bush will inflame this situation because, at the very least, it will shuffle the deck. And we know that the hand he's holding is a loser

[Barrett808]

3. Been feeling that all day

Just like a year ago. The catastrophe deepens.

[wtmusic]

2. This is gonna get ugly

If the neocons were smart they'd back down from this one. But they're not, so they won't.

Oh, shit.

[Barrett808]

4. They're not stupid. Just delusional. n/t

[David Dunham]

5. I agree. Backing down would be best. But Bush won't do it.

[VTMechEngr]

10. They can't back down. If they do, then everything they

Attack us liberals for, claiming we are weak on terror and such will be disproven. They can't back down, and look weak. Its their corner, their paint. Unfortunately, our shoes...

[markses]

6. Kufa is out of CPA control

Fallujah is retained only with 4,000 Marines, and then only in a tightly run operation (and we still don't know what is happening there, mind you).

Large stretches of Baghdad's Shi'a "suburbs" (really slums) are effectively out of CPA control.

"We also knew that for years now there had been no country here but the war." - Michael Herr, Dispatches

[grytpype]

7. Oh, wonderful. Just wonderful.

There are no good choices left in Iraq. We are screwed, blued, and tattooed.

[skooooo]

8. This will all come down to invading the Mosques....

....and then hell WILL break lose.

[fishnfla]

9. self delete

bad info

[IndianaGreen]

11. The NY Times adds its $0.02 to the al-Sadr demonizing and smear

What can we expect from such a noble news institution that gave us the lies writtten by the likes of Jason Blair and Judith Miller?

[Robbien]

12. Oh yes, you are so right

Everything is fine and dandy in Iraq. If you do not believe me, just listen to the GOP staffed media office of the CPA.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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[IndianaGreen]

16. Jason wrote fictional stories and passed them off as true

He finally got burned when he described the home of Jessica Lynch's parents, only to have the Lynches say that Jason never interviewed them or visited them.

[Robbien]

17. What's this our side?

But smearing the NYT instead of arguing the facts is standard operating procedure for the rabid right.

[itaintmema]

20. Our side is for the people

Jason Blair as I recall was for the people and the more liberal side of politics. He deserves some credit for being on the side of good regardless if he embellished a few stories. Everyone does it but he got shot down by the cons because he rubbed against them.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[DemBones DemBones]

26. How is the NYT 'demonizing' Moktada al-Sadr?

They refer to him as 'incendiary' and 'radical' but he is barricading himself in a mosque and agitating his followers. No matter what his reason, he is apparently hoping to force a violent and bloody confrontation between
Iraqis and Americans.

The Americans should have never gone into Iraq. I agree with al-Sadr on that.

But after thirteen months of war, with Bush* saying the Iraqi government will be handed over to Iraqi control in three more months, al-Sadr is taking action highly likely to prolong the occupation and widen the conflicts into . What is his objective? To kill Americans? Understandable from his point of view, but Iraqis will die, too. To enhance his own reputation and increase his power? That would be my guess. I don't admire leaders who promote senseless violence and put their people in needless danger to prove their masculinity. He's already instituted strict Islamic rule in Kufa, too, replacing existing law with sharia (sp.?), just what the Taliban used in Afghanistan. I have a low opinion of that move, just as I oppose Christian Reconstructionists taking over this country.

[itaintmema]

13. I thought Mosques were off limits for battle

Why did he choose a holy Mosque? I personally think it makes him look cowardly.

[FlemingsGhost]

18. See post #8

The tomb, it doth loom
Just short a century it will take.

[BrotherBuzz]

19. Not a coward, just crazy like a fox.

Sadr is holed up inside the holy Kufa mosque, where centuries earlier the founder of Shiism, Imam Ali, was killed in 661 AD.

[teryang]

15. This is the playing out of a tragedy

...on the grandest scale. Surely there is no greater rooster like posturing than the chimp's, "this will not stand." This is the bushonian signal in bad english for a bloodbath.

In my opinion this will be a debacle to be portrayed as a "victory for the great leader" and will mark the decisive reversal psychologically of American fortunes in Iraq. Any person that knew what they were doing politically would back off. America is about to enter the same political black hole in world esteem occupied by Ariel Sharon.

[LONG-LINER]

21. This is great ... Kill a lot of the religious extremist

and their Hench men at once ..... Mr. Sadr is obviously a divider not a uniter .... does that sound like another leader we know??? bush??

[puerco-bellies]

27. On the contrary

I think that it is a win win for him. If he does not get attacked in the mosque it will serve as a rallying point for the resistance. If the mosque is taken he will be killed and will be the defining moment of the resistance. Martyrdom is their highest form of honor. He is willing to die for his beliefs, the exact opposite of *.