Al-Sadr's reappearance -- burying the lede

[RufusTFirefly]

It's fascinating how much you can learn even just listening to the stodgy BBC.

In the hysterical American media, the recent re-emergence of Moqtada al-Sadr (that's his last name; his first name is apparently "fiery Shiite cleric") has followed two basic storylines:

1. The mysterious one: Where was he hiding? I'll bet he was being shielded by those evil Iranians.
   
2. The ominous one: An OBL wannabe (by virtue of his headgear alone!), MaS's reappearance can only mean death and destruction.
   

Of course, the real story as covered on the BBC is that al-Sadr has extended an olive branch to Sunnis on the grounds that the two groups are brothers and that they share a common enemy. Guess who?

Once again, the Dim Son's stump statement has proven prophetic. He is indeed a uniter, not a divider.

[Buzz Clik]

1. great post.

:thumbsup:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. most people don't know who Al Sadr is and don't care

they just want the Iraq thing finished

[dave_p]

8. So long as they don't know and don't care ...

... they're not going to be much help in finishing it. Their country created this mess. It's their duty to know and care, so they can counter the lies.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. America lives in 2 worlds

[Kagemusha]

3. Well Sadr's overtures had failed in the past rather dismally.

Not that he wasn't trying but.. the killings after the Golden Mosque bombing did tremendous damage to his efforts, even if one might call them political posturing. A lot of politics is posturing though. Will this new effort work? I dunno but, the fact is, Talibani left for the US, al-Hakim left for Iran, and Sadr's in Najaf. This is not a good combination for the US.

[dave_p]

6. The main Sunni resistance has always been open to offers

It's the jihadist fringe that's hell-bent on tearing the country apart, much like its neocon pals in the States: it'll doubtless plant a few marketplace bombs to keep the sectarian divide going, but if al-Sadr can restrain his people and resist the counter-offers from his former allies in the puppet government, this could be the beginning of the end for the occupation. At the very least, it threatens to make a US assault on Iran a still less favorable proposition, even while Iran's main allies continue propping up the crumbling Maliki coalition.

[RufusTFirefly]

4. Will "sectarian violence" join Democracy and WMDs...

... on the trash heap of failed explanations for why we're still in Iraq?

[dave_p]

7. If only

... But US spooks can always take a leaf out of the Brits' book and plant a few bombs themselves.

[RufusTFirefly]

9. How 'bout a little fire, Scarecrow?

Remember the Reichstag

[Up2Late]

5. He also scolded his followers to stop fighting the Iraqi Police!

Because, he said, it only serves to give the American's an excuse to stay longer.

This was in the NPR Report:

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10436781>

"...But perhaps more important: Sadr took his followers to task for not obeying orders.

During the sermon, Sadr demanded his followers stop fighting with Iraqi security forces — saying continued clashes only give U.S. forces a reason to stay.

Sadr said nothing about his long absence. A senior aide, Abdul Mehdi al-Meteri, would only say he was out of sight for security reasons...."

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Doing our part to prevent peace from breaking out

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi and coalition forces killed five suspected terrorists in raids in Baghdad on Saturday and detained a "suspected terrorist cell leader" who is linked to Iran's weapons and training network, the U.S. military said.

The capital's Sadr City was raided after radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr made his first public appearance in four months on Friday, leading prayers at the mosque in the holy Shiite city of Kufa.
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