Sadr urges "civil revolt" as battles erupt in Basra »
Posted By JamesMarcus 1 year, 3 months ago in NewsA ceasefire crucial to recent security improvements in Iraq was today under severe strain after Moqtada al-Sadr called for "civil revolt" following a crackdown on Shia factions in Basra. Iraqi security forces in the southern Iraqi city encountered heavy resistance as battles broke out with gunmen from Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
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JamesMarcus
James Marcus is a writer, translator, critic, and editor. He is the author of Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot-Com Juggernaut and ...
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GWHayduke1 year, 3 months ago
This is evidence that al-Sadr has far more influence on violence in Iraq than any surge.
That being the case, we'd better prepare the mother of all surges.
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gamahuche1 year, 3 months ago
I was thinking how to say exactly the same thing but can't improve on your analysis!
This is a turn of the screw which has been waiting to happen.
The main problem with the surge was that it did virtually nothing to win hearts and minds or to create any confidence in Iraquis about the future.
Has anyone heard of refugees flocking home?
Most of them are still dealing with great hardship in unwilling-host countries rather than take the risk of coming home.
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ETproductions1 year, 3 months ago
Ah. So yet another turning point goes around the wrong corner. How many turning points have we reached now in the past 5 years?
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sotiris-k1 year, 3 months ago
Tell me again why is this murderous sob still allowed to exist free and undermine Iraq? Bush is the traitor of his country that engaged in a criminal invasion. The crime was not against the people of iraq. The crime was against the prosperity of americans. Contrary to those that hold americans responsible for the deaths in iraq i hold responsible first the Iraqi people and leaders. Regardless of the fact the invasion was wrong , a moronic choice that likely was the result of a money oriented enterprise to exploit the emerging crisis(clue yourself why EXXON and the rest of the guys deserve 100 bil$ per year profits today) the ultimate truth about iraq is that it has failed because its citizens have failed themselves first. Bush is criminal because he should have known that a country is not ready for democracy until it first spills its own blood for it. Iraqis are not fighting for democracy today. They are fighting because they lack national identity and this is the root of the problem.
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Lurch1 year, 3 months ago
The surge ended about six months ago.
This is just another layer of right-wing BS that steals our money to put in the pockets of the already rich & powerful using the ever increasing number of people they sent to their deaths as the excuse.
As long as Americans are so gullible they continue to take money out of their children`s future to reward the people who are stealing their freedoms, nothing will change.
McCain 2008! (just kidding)
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joeblowe1 year, 3 months ago
The sad thing is: I don't really believe a word of anything the press reports concerning Iraq. I have come to the conclusion that they - for the most part - simply parrot whatever line of Bul!sh!t the Pentagon is handing out this week. It DOES seem as though this al-Sadr guy has an inordinate amount of military effectiveness for a so-called "cleric" though. Why, I doubt if the Poop himself could raise as much hell as Moqtada, and he has MUCH fancier headgear. If it were up to me, I'd stop calling this guy a "cleric" and start referring to him as "warlord" al-Sadr or some such. Cleric my as*.
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OnionHeadComment removed: User banned.51 Replies
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vor1 year, 3 months ago
This was inevitable. We have allowed local warlords to self govern the region for nearly a year. They do not wish to be under Iraqi government control. When the British moved back they claimed their own little territories. We will soon see as well that empowering the Sunni in the North will result in the same. Small groups of consolidated power that have little interest in national unity. The government is providing them little and in return they have little respect for that body.
Al-Sadr is playing this like a wise owl. He lay low during the Surge. He knows he cannot fight US forces successfully but he also knows he has elements outside of his brigade that are loyal to him in the Iraqi Army. Even if he dies he becomes a martyr.
This is just the resurrection of an issue that Petraeus certainly sidestepped in his last visit to Congress. I remember thinking, "why doesn't anyone ask him about the consequences of the British withdrawal?" But it never happened...
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Grrr1 year, 3 months ago
Most of the drop in violence post-surge being claimed by the administration is due to the fact that we are paying Al-Sadr for the ceasefire.
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MRCOFFEECAKE1 year, 3 months ago
Well now he has enough of our money to fund a revolt against us..Isn't that hay happened with the Taliban??
This is what happens when one cowboy President is followed by another!
The problem is this time the Indians aren't on reservations and they outnumber us, plus we're on their turf.
Yeah, I know in the 1600-1800's we were on the Indian's turf, but give me a little poetic license, will ya??
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crghss1 year, 3 months ago
Your mixing the facts.
The U.S. and Iraqi forces moved into challenge the Sadr's Mahdi militia. This prompted Sadr to run to Iran. To save face, and his skin, he agreed to a cease fire. At the same time the U.S. hired local Sunni tribe's(Sadr is Shia) to police their own area's. The awaking consul did this for the money and because al-aqeuda was killing everyone in site and the Iraqi's grew tired of this.
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tchef1 year, 3 months ago
This is what I've been talking about for a while now. I would be willing to bet that no matter how long we stay, the minute we leave all out civil war will break out. Al Sadre is just waiting for us to leave, He knows it's only a matter of time.
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crghss1 year, 3 months ago
al-sadr is losing control of his army, has been for a while now. We'll see what the end result is but a lot of oil revenue is at stake in Basra so everyone's fighting for a piece. Hopefully the Iraqi's force can start to take control of the country. It's the only hope for Iraq not to self destruct into civil war.
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pismo1 year, 3 months ago
This guy and all the others like him will be a thorn in our side and the Iraqi government side from now until the cows come home.....
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Ratskii1 year, 3 months ago
Drop is a barbarian. Only his own tribe are human in his mind. He believes that killing millions of strangers or opponents isn't a crime. Still, I would think that even he would have some mind for the consequences of his proposed actions, unless he really is completely ignorant of the world outside his own neighborhood.
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DropkickaLib1 year, 3 months ago
Ratsh*t pretends to be able to read my mind. It wasn't my idea. Hey you Libs want to get out now. I was just trying to accomodate you. It is, after all, the only way to leave immediately. See my point?
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raats66621 year, 3 months ago
As much as I hate to say it...maybe this is a GOOD thing. Maybe this will take ALL the air out of McCain's sails and the American people will see this 'surge' for what it truly is....no different. The US troops have NOT changed anything in the last year. The Iraqi TRIBES have and as soon as they change their mind it will be 'business as usual'. Maybe this is what it's going to take to get a Democrat as President.
McCain said himself 'If I can't convince the American people about the war in Iraq I loose.' Maybe the tribal leaders shaking things up again will convince the American People AGAINST Iraq.
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MRCOFFEECAKE1 year, 3 months ago
There are still a high ration of cowboy fools in this country.
No matter what happens in Iraq
nothing will change their mind, and thanks to Mr. Diebold McCain can be guaranteed at least 45% of the electoral votes.
Once again, Ohio, Florida, Missouri, Virginia, Pennsylvania, maybe Indiana (but I doubt it)
Arizona and Oregon will decide the election.
Did I miss one??
The rest are pretty much already pre-conceived.
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ML2007Comment removed: User banned.
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Goppy1 year, 3 months ago
Jeesh crgy.
WHAT NEWS ARE YOU WATCHIN???
Its all OVER the news.
Its on the TV!
Its on the RAdio!
Its in print!
OH!!
Sorry.. I forgot you are in 'Dang Libural Media Mode' - in which we Conservatives take every opportunity, no matter how redikalous, to try to promote our Libural Media Mantra.
Sorry dude.
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pismo1 year, 3 months ago
The MSM will cover the story if and only if supports their agenda. Unbiased news reporting is rare if it exists at all these days. CNN, MSNBC, CBS, FOX.....they all report either distortions of the truth or partial truths. Their viewers love the "dirty laundry" they provide.
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DrBenway1 year, 3 months ago
We can't leave Iraq! You know how much money this is making companies like Blackwater and Halliburton?
Have you liberals no thought of the shareholders and CEOs who won't be able to buy their fifth home if we just "cut and run"?
How about their new homes in Dubai? How are they going to afford to live their after they've sucked Iraq dry? You heartless, heartless people!
Sure people in American are now burning down their homes because they can no longer afford to pay their mortgages... but in the immortal words of Dick Cheney "So"?
No, this war must go on! Viva la unchecked Capitalism!
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nikkibabe1 year, 3 months ago
Did the "SURGE" guy Iraq John meet with Mukhtada Al Sadr? You cannot go there, meet your military puppets and Iraqi government which is on US payroll, come back here and say "WE ARE WINNING".
You have to meet Al Sadr and ordinary Iraqis who live their lives.
John McCain is a big hypocrite and Bush poster child.
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Ratskii1 year, 3 months ago
I notice that that is one of the first things many right-wingers think if a leader in some other country is saying or doing something that they don't like. Kill the leader. One trouble with that is that the people he or she is leading don't just go away, and it leaves you nobody effective to negotiate with. Another problem is it contributes to the worldwide hatred of the U.S. A third problem is that it is just plain barbaric.
I've noticed that many on the right think violence is the solution to every problem.
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Grrr1 year, 3 months ago
Actually, commanders on the ground pushed to take out Al-Sadr in the first two weeks of occupation, hoping they could pull it off while he only had a militia of a couple hundred as opposed to the thousands he would surely amass (and did) over the weeks to come. But Rummy wouldn't give the okay.
???!!!
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MRCOFFEECAKE1 year, 3 months ago
The world is not coming to an end, but do you ever even wonder why ALL of the qualified generals have resigned?
Franks, Sanchez, Casey, Fallon and 8 others all gone.
This has NEVER happened in American history.
Hmmm??
Do you ever just wonder?
You are still putting your stock in fools, despite all of the facts that you have had before you.
That makes you just another fool!
You believe every lie they have thrown at you and that is sad.
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NoWayMan1 year, 3 months ago
wait a minute. I thought we were paying out big money to the militias so this sorta thing wouldn't happen and Bush could market his surge as a success.
but this makes the Bush surge plan look so...fake.
I want a refund.
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nikkibabe1 year, 3 months ago
Quote: "Why don't we take this punk Al Sadr out? If he's going to turn those ****** lose on our troops, then he should have a taste of a 500 pounder.".
The words of a war monger.
FYI: Al Sadr is an Iraqi born there. US troops are foreigners occupying his country.
IS 4,000 body bags not enough, for you?
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nikkibabe1 year, 3 months ago
Quote: "Why don't we take this punk Al Sadr out? If he's going to turn those ****** lose on our troops, then he should have a taste of a 500 pounder.".
The words of a war monger.
FYI: Al Sadr is an Iraqi born there. US troops are foreigners occupying his country.
This is an occupation that no military can win. There will be a shameful exit, and watch your white A$$%$ on way out so the Iraqi door does not kick you.
IS 4,000 body bags not enough, for you?
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kedirian1 year, 3 months ago
Sadr urges "civil revolt" ....
Maybe, it is time to dust off the history books and allow that Little Holiness some serenity and quiet meditation on Diego Garcia, which is a notch better than the island of Elba was for another, earlier midget, albeit one with much more intelligence than this 'Reverend'!
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ningyo1 year, 3 months ago
this is just another punk fraud race islamo pimp--kind of like sharpton or the rev wrong with real guns..we should have punched his ticket a long time ago..but here the dinosaur media still flock to the rev al and jesse for the same reasons..and hussein obama's no different,,just better suits..and a loudmouth wife to entertain us
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gwhiddon1 year, 3 months ago
It looks like a positive to me. Civil disobedience is quite an improvement from all out war. It sounds like democracy is just beginning to take hold. He is choosing civil disobedience first, war next. That's democracy - talk first, then shoot.
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shgarg1 year, 3 months ago
Articles and content in this section of the website are really amazing. From http://www.puneonnet.com, http://www.tamilnaduonnet.com
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HMMace1 year, 3 months ago
ITS A SHAME HOW OUR POLITICIANS HAVE BEEN DOUBLE DEALING --GIVING MONEY TO THE PALISTINIANS..THEY JUST BUY BOMBS WITH THE MONEY--TO KILL MORE PEOPLE..CROOKED POLS--WHAT NEW..
WE AID THE ARABS---THE ONES WHO CAUSED 911..NICE PEOPLE OUR POLITICIANS..
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mrwooly1 year, 3 months ago
This punk is on the take from Iran where he's been hiding. We all know this to be true. To take him out is to cut the ties with Iran. Even if someone else pops up in his place, at least they know they have to back off or the same thing happens. If this saves one American life, it's worth it.
Give him a pair of 500 pounders.
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nikkibabe1 year, 3 months ago
Newsflash from Pakistan:
UGLY AMERICANS TOLD THAT "THERE IS A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN".
English newspapers, Dawn & The News had this quote: "IT WAS NO PLACE AND TIME FOR UGLY AMERICAN DIPLOMATS TO SHOW UP WHEN OUR NEW DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT WAS BEING SWORN IN". It was referring to Mr. Negroponte & the US Ambassador to Pakistan whoever that SOB is.
Got your ass-kicked-out right?
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nikkibabe1 year, 3 months ago
Newsflash from Pakistan:
UGLY AMERICANS TOLD THAT "THERE IS A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN".
English newspapers, Dawn & The News had this quote: "IT WAS NO PLACE AND TIME FOR UGLY AMERICAN DIPLOMATS TO SHOW UP WHEN OUR NEW DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT WAS BEING SWORN IN". It was referring to Mr. Negroponte & the US Ambassador to Pakistan whoever that SOB is.
Got your f%^&*%$-asses_kicked in a muslim country!!!!
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svensun1 year, 3 months ago
Once again, we have those on the left, the anti-American, anti-US, pro-islamofascist left, trying to spin a story into a tale of 'doom and gloom', when what we are actually witnessing is an INCREDIBLY POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT!
How long have we had to listen to the insufferable Modern Liberal complaints that the US is bearing the all burden in this fight in Iraq, that Americans shouldn't be doing the fighting that Iraqi 'boys' should do, to paraphrase another failed Modern Liberal icon?
Well, what is this story about? That, FINALLY, Iraqi 'boys' are doing the fighting; the Iraqi government, NOT the US MILITARY, is cracking down on Sadr's militia; finally, the Iraqi government is strong and assertive enough to crack down, challenge and fight a very dangerous militia force, and what do we hear? Not, 'finally', but 'see, it's all a big failure!'
The illogic and deception of the left knows no limits or bounds, and the spinning of this story, is just the latest example.
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svensun1 year, 3 months ago
Once again, we have those on the left, the anti-American, anti-US, pro-islamofascist left, trying to spin a story into a tale of 'doom and gloom', when what we are actually witnessing is an INCREDIBLY POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT!
How long have we had to listen to the insufferable Modern Liberal complaints that the US is bearing the all burden in this fight in Iraq, that Americans shouldn't be doing the fighting that Iraqi 'boys' should do, to paraphrase another failed Modern Liberal icon?
Well, what is this story about? That, FINALLY, Iraqi 'boys' are doing the fighting; the Iraqi government, NOT the US MILITARY, is cracking down on Sadr's militia; finally, the Iraqi government is strong and assertive enough to crack down, challenge and fight a very dangerous militia force, and what do we hear? Not, 'finally', but 'see, it's all a big failure!'
The illogic and deception of the left knows no limits or bounds, and the spinning of this story, is just the latest example.
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hyperbola1 year, 3 months ago
I wonder what it will take before the american people finally throw the zioncons out of our government, our politics and our media and adopt sensible policies in the mideast? This maybe?
Globalization Bush-style
... Imagine, for a moment, that you live in a small town somewhere near the Southern California coast. You're going about your daily life, trying to scrape by in hard times, when the missile hits. It might have come from the Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -- its pilot at a base on the outskirts of Tehran -- that has had the village in its sights for the last six hours or from the Russian sub stationed just off the coast. In either case, it's devastating.
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Grrr1 year, 3 months ago
In the case of Al-Sadr, it certainly seems that he should have been taken out long ago. He is more an outright criminal than a sectarian thug. Catering to his extortions is not going to improve matters for anyone there but the gunrunners. Further, he is the one obvious Iranian pawn in the region, and he should be taken into custody or removed before he flees to Iran again, providing the admin the excuse to go in after him. Leaving him in place is one of the big mistakes of the strategy in Iraq so far. If we must be there, shouldn't we start doing some things right, strategically?
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Ratskii1 year, 3 months ago
Grrr, please take the time to look at further sources of information. Al-Sadr is the one Shiite leader that has actually criticized Iran for meddling in Iraqi affairs. See my comment above.
I see my comment was put in the wrong place again.
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MRCOFFEECAKE1 year, 3 months ago
Ohh. So that's your 8th or 9th strategy?
We've lost count.
Skip right over how stupid our "policy" and "plan" has been. Feel free to deny blindly supporting every one of them, and then suggest that we all get together and agree to do what the Huns did after they were done raping and pillaging and burn down the village.
How THOUGHTful (less) of you.
Glad to know we're relying on brilliant military minds!
Wasn't abandonment plan for New Orleans, for anyone dumb enough to build homes on land that is below sea
level?
THAT would surprise me.
We needed the money to rebuild Baghdad.
The war was going to be funded with Iraqui oil money!(part of plan #1 in case you forget the lies)
Losing your patience? McCain is willing to be there for 80 years. He said it, not me.
Let's sterilize Iraqui women, relocate all
who lost their homes in Louisiana there, and McCain would be right. In 80 years there would only be Louisianans living there. All of the Iraquis would be gone. VICTORY!
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GHOSTWHOWALKS1 year, 3 months ago
Drop Kick: That has to be the dumbest comment to ever break out of your idiot mind. Nuke them? Are you freaking nuts? Oh yeah and we would pay such a price for that stupidity that 100 generations would still bear the stain. Not to mention being hauled before the World Court for every crime in the books. You are by far the most ignorant idiot ever to be allowed to breath.
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