More Pressure on Sadr to Disband His Militia
April 14th, 2008 at 12:59am Mark Noonan
And yet more evidence that Sadr lost big time in Basra:
Iraq’s Cabinet ratcheted up the pressure on anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr by approving draft legislation barring political parties with militias from participating in upcoming provincial elections.
Al-Sadr, who heads the country’s biggest militia, the Mahdi Army, has been under intense pressure from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite, to disband the Mahdi Army or face political isolation.
Al-Sadr’s followers are eager to take part in the local elections because they believe they can take power away from rival Shiite parties in the vast, oil-rich Shiite heartland of southern Iraq.
And in a new move to stem the flow of money to armed groups, the government ordered a crackdown on militiamen controlling state-run and private gas stations, refineries and oil distribution centers.
It is believed that gas stations and distribution centers, especially in eastern Baghdad and some southern provinces, are covertly controlled by Shiite militiamen dominated by the Mahdi Army.
While the linked MSM report goes on to claim that Sadr won, the fact that Sadr is under increasing pressure from Iraq’s political class to quit indicates the true state of affairs. And here’s something from Michael Yon - who has spent a lot of time in Iraq over the past five years - about the attitude in Iraq:
The change goes far beyond the statistical decline in casualties or incidents of violence. A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America. Iraqi special forces units took to the streets to track down terrorists who killed American soldiers. The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq, and many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers. Yes, young Iraqi boys know about “GoArmy.com.”
As the outrages of Abu Ghraib faded in memory – and paled in comparison to al Qaeda’s brutalities – and our soldiers under the Petraeus strategy got off their big bases and out of their tanks and deeper into the neighborhoods, American values began to win the war.
Iraqis came to respect American soldiers as warriors who would protect them from terror gangs. But Iraqis also discovered that these great warriors are even happier helping rebuild a clinic, school or a neighborhood. They learned that the American soldier is not only the most dangerous enemy in the world, but one of the best friends a neighborhood can have.
You liberals - you just keep on saying its all been a disaster and that the only solution is a HillBama-orchestrated surrender. On our side, we’ll rejoice in a President who had the courage to do the right thing, and a nation which can produce the men and women who made the turn-around in Iraq happen.
Entry Filed under: War on Terror
8 Comments
1. Freedom1 | April 14th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Yeah. Democratic elections in Iraq. That’s where the real power in Iraq is now and they know it. What a difference 5 years makes.
Wow. Just wow. God bless him!
That’s what I was hoping would happen. Yes!
Oh, YEAH!!!
2. Marty13 | April 14th, 2008 at 6:15 am
The author of this piece SLOBODAN LEKIC, knows there’s always a ready market for anecdotal propaganda. Why hasn’t FOX offered this guy a show?
….bury his heart in America………….pleeeeaaase.
3. JD | April 14th, 2008 at 7:20 am
It’s not only liberals that see this as a disaster. There are plenty of us conservative Christian types that see it for the disaster it is. Our failed president committed a colossal strategic blunder, as well as doing something immoral and unjust, when he sent US armed forces into Iraq.
4. neocon | April 14th, 2008 at 9:14 am
“American values began to win the war.” - Yon
Now this is something the liberals can understand. Haven’t they been telling us for years that Levi Blue Jeans and Chevrolets ended the cold war?
um….JD, that’s a five year old talking point. Can you bring anything else to the table?
5. Rich | April 14th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Iraqi soldiers just rescued the kidnapped British journalist in Basra- Way to go! Do any of you libs want to come on here and claim the battle of Basra was still a huge win for Sadr? Seems like he’s getting worn out and isolated more every day.
6. Tractatus | April 14th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
There are plenty of us conservative Christian types that see it for the disaster it is.
Prepare to be informed–angrily–that you are not a “real” conservative, JD.
7. Bitter Pennsylvanian | April 14th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I read the excerpt from Michael Yon’s article several times. The first time I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat; subsequent times I had a huge smile on my face. God bless the Iraqis and the U.S. military.
8. What? | April 15th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Mark writes,
“On our side, we’ll rejoice in a President who had the courage to do the right thing, and a nation which can produce the men and women who made the turn-around in Iraq happen.”
Now for the story Mark won’t report:
60 Minutes reported this week that most of the ministries in Iraq are run by people who are in league with the insurgency. These ministers are receiving American tax dollars and funneling it to the very people who are killing out soldiers.
Seeing as it is tax day, I just wanted to let Mark know that the money he paid in taxes will go towards the bullets that kill Americans. The level of our incompetence in Iraq would be laughable if it did not have such tragic results.
Also,
The spin you put on this Al Sadr story is breath-taking. Could it be that the parliment banned their participation because it was afraid they would win?
But let’s think of what will happen if all the people following Al Sadr are disenfranchised? Will this make them respect the current government and participate in it, or view it as a regime who takes its marching orders from Washington?
Let’s make the question a little close to home. How do you think Americans would react if they were told by the government they weren’t allowed to vote unless they gave up their guns?