Why Did Bush Invite Abdelaziz Al-Hakim (Mr. Death Squad) To Washington?

[Jcrowley]

Mister Death Squad Goes to Washington
by Ahmed Amr
Sunday December 3, 2006

Welcome to the final Byzantine round of the Machiavellian Iraqi war games in Washington. Making his triumphant appearance today is none other than Abdelaziz Al-Hakim – the wise one. He’s a veteran player who survived four years of preliminary elimination rounds to qualify for the final phase of what is turning out to be a truly Olympian imperial project.

<snip>

To get a measure of the man, you need to see past Hakim’s wardrobe. This guy is more than a religious missionary. He’s certainly no ordinary politician. You can’t even consider him a military man – although he was the leader of the Badr Brigades – the military wing of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq – SCIRI. Still, he’s so much more than that. The source of his political clout is his control over the Shiite death squads that have infiltrated the American-trained security forces.

And there’s more to recommend this man for the task of getting “the job done.” The death squads under Al Hakim’s command aren’t your run of the mill assassins. They usually leave their signature on their victims before grinding them up. Al Hakim’s dedicated cadres like to drill holes in other people’s skulls before dumping the mutilated cadavers on Baghdad’s streets as a warning to any real or potential adversaries.

It’s not yet clear why Bush invited Mister Death Squad to Washington. But let’s not ‘misunderestimate’ the President. This is the same POTUS who thundered from his bully pulpit that “we cannot turn a blind eye to repression because that repression is not in our back yard.” What he failed to mention was that – as the need arises - we would continue to invite vicious torturers and assassins to our front yard for tea in the Rose Garden.

http://www.thousandreasons.org/get_article.php?article_id=342

[The Magistrate]

1. In Iraq At Present, Sir

There is no point talking to a man who does not command a few thousand guns at least....

[Jcrowley]

3. Bad company for dinner

Many Militias formed following the American occupation of Iraq. However, the most serious were the militias of a religious clerics, formed by the strong and religious parties, on sectarian basis. Some were in Iran and the others were in Syria. The militias operate under the cloak of sectarian slogans. They started their operations of liquidation and acts of violence.

The most dangerous of these militias is the “Badr Brigade” of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution, headed by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim. They are not a militia, they are an organized army with hierarchy ranks listed as any regular army.

http://dissidentnews.wordpress.com/2006/09/05/newsvine-iraqs/

[The Magistrate]

5. Indeed, Sir, Not A Comfortable Fellow To Share A Bottle With

Nor a man to trust, unless you are asking him to do just what he wants to do....

[Leopolds Ghost]

2. K&R nt

[majorjohn]

4. Article is too biased; written by anti-Shia. n/t

[Jcrowley]

6. Here's a dotlet of info

Sayyed Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (Arabic: ??? ?????? ?????? ) (born 1953) is an Iraqi theologian and politician and the leader of SCIRI, the largest political party in the Iraqi National Assembly.
He was a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and served as its president in December 2003. Brother of the Shia leader Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, he replaced him as leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq when Mohammed Baqir was assassinated in August 2003 in Najaf.
He was born in 1953, the son of Grand Ayatollah Muhsin Al-Hakim, the spiritual leader of the world's Shi'a from 1955-1970. He played a leading role in the Safar Intifada in 1977 and was imprisoned in 1972, 1977 and 1979. He went into exile in Iran in 1980, where he was a founder member in 1982 of SCIRI and headed their military wing, the Badr Brigade. He was the top candidate listed for the United Iraqi Coalition during the first Iraqi legislative election of January 2005 but has not sought a government post because the Alliance had decided not to include theologians in the government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Aziz_al-Hakim

[majorjohn]

7. Info from PBS

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a large, influential, and moderate Iraqi Shiite political organization formerly based in Iran. Having long opposed Saddam and operated clandestinely against his regime, SCIRI did not interfere with the U.S.-led invasion, and it has since formed a tactical alliance with the Coalition Provisional Authority. Al-Hakim is also believed to be the commander of SCIRI's militia group, the Badr Brigade, renamed the Badr Organization for Development and Reconstruction. Al-Hakim's brother, the revered Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim, was killed in a car bombing in August 2003 outside the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf.

Speaking to FRONTLINE through an interpreter, al-Hakim emphasizes the rights of all Iraqis and explains his vision for an Iraqi government established through democratic elections. Along with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Iraqi Shiite spiritual leader, and other members of the moderate Shiite establishment, al-Hakim says that he does not favor a theocratic Islamic state on the model of Iran, but rather a constitutional democracy that respects Islam while guaranteeing political and human rights to all Iraqis. "To respect Islam is one thing," he tells FRONTLINE, "and to establish an Islamic government is something else." This interview was conducted on Dec. 3, 2003.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/beyond/interviews/hakim.html

[Jcrowley]

11. Wonder if he'll be as Democratic as the Shah?

Living in Iran as an exile for many years also reshaped al-Hakim’s outlook and personality. In Iran there were two camps of Iraqis: the refugees and the captives of the Iraqi-Iran war. The latter were generally nationalists and had a vague memory of al-Hakim family. Their identification was mostly with Ayatollah Mohamed Sadiq al-Sadr, the father of Mugtada al-Sadr. The Iraqi refugees who were deported by Saddam for sectarian reasons bitterly resented the regime in Iraq and the way they were treated. It is this group that al-Hakim related to and to whom he offered moral and financial support.

In recent months, al-Hakim’s adversaries have intensified their accusations that he is a tool of Iran and the United States. In Iran, the reformer group appears to support al-Sadr movement not al-Hakim. The ruling conservatives in Iran have their own priorities: ensuring the safety and the survival of the regime and making Qom, rather than Najaf in Iraq, as the intellectual and religious center of Shia Islam. The latter aim may be consistent with al-Hakim’s goals of having a weak Hawza not connected to the daily affairs of ordinary Iraqis. This may allow him to project himself as the only champion of the cause of the people in central and southern Iraq.

Similarly, al-Hakim interest in maintaining the presence of foreign forces and his apparent friendship with American representatives in Baghdad, do not necessary evidence that he is an American instrument. Rather, his interests seem to be consistent with the goal of the neoconservatives; incapacitating Iraqi political and cultural institutions.

In recent months, al-Hakim more than ever has strengthened his relationships with the representatives of the occupation powers. Furthermore, he visited Irabil in Northern Iraq and promised Kurdish separatists to transfer Iraq into semi-independent three regions. This has angered the majority of Iraqis who regards the proposed division as a threat to the democratic order and peace and security in Iraq. Since then, al-Hakim has faced mounting pressures, to espouse patriotic agenda, from two credible rivals: Al-Dawa Party and Sadrist movement.

http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/February/23%20o/The%20Making%20of%20Abdul%20Aziz%20al-Hakim%20By%20Abbas%20J.%20Ali.htm

[originalpckelly]

8. I'm Mr. Death Squad, I'm Mr. Gun...

I can hear it now.

[dchill]

9. Why?

So they could high-five!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Picking a side to back in the Civil War?

You know, the non-existent civil war that isn't occurring but is leaving thousands dead.

So, the fightin' fratboy from Crawford can back the "nice" Shiite instead of the icky Muqtada against the Sunni insurgents and we can have a "victory".