Militia Leader Al-Sadr Studying Up
Powerbroker Quietly Resumes Seminary Studies In Pursuit Of Revered "Ayatollah" Title
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The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, gestures while delivering a Friday sermon in Iraq in this 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Alaa Al-Marjani)
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An injured Iraqi girl is treated by medics from 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment at Patrol Base Murray after a mortar strike injured two girls in the town of Arab Jabour south of Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
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Iraqi police inspect the scene of a suicide car bomb attack just outside the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohamed)
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Al-Sadr's objectives - described to The Associated Press by close aides - are part of increasingly bitter Shiite-on-Shiite battles for control of Iraq's southern oil fields, the lucrative pilgrim trade to Shiite holy cities and the nation's strategic Persian Gulf outlet.
The endgame among Iraq's majority Shiites also means long-term influence over Iraqi political and financial affairs as the Pentagon and its allies look to scale down their military presence in the coming year.
Al-Sadr's backers remain key players in the showdowns across the region, where fears of even more bloodshed are rising following Wednesday's triple car bombing in one of the area's main urban hubs. At least 25 people were killed and scores wounded.
Al-Sadr - who was last seen publicly in May - is confronting the most serious challenges to his influence, which includes sway over a bloc in parliament and a militia force that numbers as many as 60,000 by some estimates.
Becoming an ayatollah - a revered status among Shiite Muslims - would give the 33-year-old al-Sadr an important new voice and aura.
It also would give him fresh clout to challenge his top rival, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, which looks to Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as its highest religious authority and has its own armed wing, the Badr Brigade, which have been largely absorbed into Iraqi security forces.
Al-Sadr often stresses his Iraqi and Arab roots and rejects suggestions that he is beholden to Persian Iran, the world's Shiite heavyweight and the benefactor of many Shiite politicians.
As an ayatollah, his views and fatwas, or religious edicts, would resonate with even more authority as the battles heat up for sway over Iraq's Shiite heartland.
As an ayatollah, al-Sadr's views and fatwas, or religious edicts, would resonate with even more authority as the battles heat up for sway over Iraq's Shiite heartland.
"If ... Muqtada becomes a religious authority, the entire movement will grow stronger," said one of the aides who described al-Sadr's seminary studies to the AP.
The al-Sadr associates - three in all - spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to share the information with the media. Their accounts, made in separate interviews, were in broad agreement.
In other developments:
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 51 Comments--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by ttinsly at 09:57 AM : Dec 14, 2007
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Oh I don''t think there''s any doubt he''s going to be dangerous... he''s the Jerry Falwell of Iraq WITHOUT our Seperation of Church and State... HE CAN AND WILL CONTROL THAT GOVERNMENT. Sieg Heil Bush
maybe we say "i-ya-told-ya" !
great idea to invade this place - real smart these neocon repubs -
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Posted by gunnerv1 at 03:09 PM : Dec 14, 2007
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SO! We just ignore all our experts and all those fine Generals who have told us over and over and over again that there is NO military solution here? Look you freaks should just go hide out somewhere and the REAL American''s, the ones who have fought Religious Extremist before, will call you when it''s over. God you losers are the worst with your "Their all the same" trash!! Sieg Heil Bush!!
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Posted by notblue at 12:10 PM : Dec 14, 2007
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What good does this do? What good does blaming him for FAILURE after FAILURE after FAILURE. After 6 LONG years and a Trillion Dollars of our GRANDKIDS money where are we? Well Bin Laden, you swastika huggers do remember him don''t you??? Well he''s COMPLETELY REBUILT his forces and guess what?? Yep oh great bootlicker... that''s called LOSING!! Now maybe you should let the folks who have been right about Bush and his War form day one speak up a bit?? Maybe you should stop practicing FASCISM everytime they say something??? Sieg Heil Bush!! Come on put that pointed Hood on Sparky... Now sing it out SEIG HEIL GRAND WIZARD CHENEY!! Good little nazi!!
Maybe he''''s our next sacrificial ruler of chaos over there? There has to be some reason we let him live through all these battles.
Never believe we just couldn''''t catch him. There''''s no one we can''''t catch! He was "let go" just like Osama in the early days of these conflicts.
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Posted by Spectrum108 at 01:12 PM : Dec 14, 2007
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No killing this guy would have turned him into a marter... then we would have had it even worse. This cat is going to be in charge over there, he already controls the souther part of the country and the Government doesn''t do anything he doesn''t want. We spent 1 Trillion Dollars and how many lives for this?? ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!
Re: "...and has its own armed wing, the Badr Brigade, which have been largely absorbed into Iraqi security forces."
The Badr Brigade is one of the U.S. backed death squads that were supported by Bush regime stooge, John "death squad" Negroponte.
Re: "Defense attorneys for a former soldier accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her and her family asked Thursday for more time to prepare an adequate defense."
Why not just plea bargain, and sentence this mass-murdering child rapist to Christmas dinner with the Bush-puppet, with a metal detector exemption?
Spectrum108,
Re: "Then "peace by fear" will settle the land."
You sound as though you have been drinking from the same toilet as Donald "Shock-and-Awe" Rumsfeld.
Posted by MCVet at 03:35 PM : Dec 14, 2007
I say IMHO, in tthis case a dead Martyr is preferred over a live ayatollah. look in his eyes to see pure hatred.
Posted by FeelFree1 at 05:23 PM : Dec 14, 2007
feely, you know that "peace by fear" is the only thing that works in the Mid East.
Spectrum108,
Re: "If we''re going to continue with our boys on the ground, while they''re losing their lives, we had better change our thinking to either get''em the he11 out of there or *** sure "fix" the problem."
I vote for option "A", unless we hope to add the financial bankruptcy of our country to the disgrace and moral bankruptcy of this lie-based, illegal, and disgraceful debacle.
That may be the result anyway, since we have allowed this heinous crusade to continue for so long already.
ToolMangler,
Re: "feely, you know that "peace by fear" is the only thing that works in the Mid East."
It sure as hell hasn''t worked there yet, and seems to be failing at home as well.
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Posted by ToolMangler at 05:39 PM : Dec 14, 2007
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Yeah? How many tours of combat have you had there Swastika Breath? ROFLMAO You NeoCon''s just don''t get it do you?? We tried this already...IT DOES NOT WORK... Democracy can not take root at the point of a gun. The PEOPLE who wish to be free must be willing to fight for it and NOT for some leader... Something you fascist have never learned I''m afraid. The fact is that you can not "Give" democracy to anyone... you freaks are about to find that out YET again... But hey "mission accomplished" again huh? ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!!
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Posted by Spectrum108 at 05:20 PM : Dec 14, 2007
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You see that''s the problem Fascist have always had... for some reason they think that killing the head guy will somehow transmit into dominance for them... Why kill this guy anyway... he''s not behind the attack on us.. he has no WMD''s... the only thing I can see he''s ever done is oppose Bush''s occupation. That''s his right isn''t it... well once that was our position anyway, but that was before you Nazi''s came to power. Sieg Heil Bush!!
Excellent points, "MCVet".
It''s true. They don''t seem capable of learning. Ever.
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Posted by Spectrum108 at 05:40 PM : Dec 14, 2007
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So we''re just going to go around the world killing eveyone who doesn''t look right? No wonder you fascist are flat getting the *** kicked out of you... I''ll say this, if we''d have fought our own Religious Extremist like you wacked out fools are fighting this thing, they''d still be lynching Blacks in Mississippi. You fools had better turn the reigns over to people who actually KNOW what they are doing and who have actually defeated Religious Extremist... or don''t you think the Klan is a Religious Extremist Group??? Sieg Heil Bush!!
There you go. The man has a milita 60,000 strong. Who pays for the payroll, bullets and beans for that army? Probably his Royal Guard buddies in Iran. His MO follows that of Hamas. Where does he hide? Mostly in Iran. Who opposes the current Iraqi government the most and wants Iraq to be a Theocracy modeled after Iran? al-Sadr.
sevenveils,
Re: "...and wants Iraq to be a Theocracy modeled after Iran?"
This result was guaranteed by the U.S./Zionist dead-brains that composed the "new" Iraqi constitution, and held the sham elections.
As far as the rest of your points go, just more unsubstantiated speculation on your part, as usual.
Constantly you over look independent news that report these facts. Go do your homework
yongamerica,
How about citing a single verified report that supports this B.S.?
"Comparisons are often drawn between al-Sadr''s strategy - a mix of militia strength, well-tuned street politics and social outreach - and the hallmarks of Hezbollah," - Hezbollah, Hamas what''s the difference, they are both funded by Iran.
"his influence, which includes sway over a bloc in parliament and a militia force that numbers as many as 60,000 by some estimates...which has been influenced by Lebanon''s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, as well Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of Iran''s 1979 Islam Revolution." -- Again a reference to Iran and its theological government. Who pays these guys, and buys them matching jogging suits anyway?
IT is a common fact al-Sadr hides in Iran
yongamerica,
Re: "Comparisons are often drawn between al-Sadr''''s strategy - a mix of militia strength, well-tuned street politics and social outreach - and the hallmarks of Hezbollah,"
This is exactly what I am talking about. Whenever some anonymous author offers unsubstantiated "comparisons" and identifies alleged "hallmarks" of anything that supports the failing fascistic drive, the Bush regime boot/arse-lickers gobble it up and cite it as fact.
This is yet another symptom of your advanced faith-based brain disease.
Is Hezbullah in Iraq? No they are not.
Is Hamas in Iraq? No they are not.
But what differnece does it make? As long as these implications support your dead-brained, dead-ender ideals, you will eagerly gobble them up, and regurgitate them ad-nauseum.
Again, can you cite a single verified report that supports this B.S.?
Are these "common facts" anything more than symptoms of your own ignorance and gullibility? It sure does not look that way.
do your own homework, the facts will set you free
Making me laugh, I''m not Muslim
yongamerica,
Re: "Facts are hard for you to swallow."
Hype and empty blather seem to be very easy for you to injest, on the other hand, as you have demonstrated here.
Facts are points that you can support. Dead-brained blather, is what you have mistakenly presented here as fact.
Again, can you cite a single verified report that supports this B.S.?
Re: "Making me laugh, I''m not Muslim"
I had already assumed that you were a Christofascist, a Zionist, or the victim of some similarly damgerous and debilitating brain disease.
Didn''t think so. Proof is a 2 way street.
yongamerica,
Re: "Can you prove me otherwise?
Didn''t think so. Proof is a 2 way street."
The complete lack of substantiation is evidence of the weakness and nonsensical nature of these claims, as has been underlined by your inability to cite even a single substantiated report.
The burden of proving dead-brained unsubstantiated hype, is on the dead-brain that makes the empty assertions (psst- that''s you).
Again, can you cite a single verified report that supports this B.S.? Even one?
But you who claim to be so right, prove me wrong. I dare.
yongamerica,
Re: "Yes, this very article I quoted from."
You appear to be compounding your stupidity here.
Let me review for you, as your retention abilities appear to be as faulty as your reasoning:
Re: "Comparisons are often drawn between al-Sadr''s strategy - a mix of militia strength, well-tuned street politics and social outreach - and the hallmarks of Hezbollah,"
This is exactly what I am talking about. Whenever some anonymous author offers unsubstantiated "comparisons" and identifies alleged "hallmarks" of anything that supports the failing fascistic drive, the Bush regime boot/arse-lickers gobble it up and cite it as fact.
This is yet another symptom of your advanced faith-based brain disease.
Is Hezbullah in Iraq? No they are not.
Is Hamas in Iraq? No they are not.
But what differnece does it make? As long as these implications support your dead-brained, dead-ender ideals, you will eagerly gobble them up, and regurgitate them ad-nauseum.
Again, can you cite a single verified report that supports this B.S.?
Are these "common facts" anything more than symptoms of your own ignorance and gullibility? It sure does not look that way.
I can "prove" to you that there is no Santa Clause or Easter Bunny. Does that mean that these entities must exist, by your faith-based reasoning?
Correction:
"I can''t "prove" to you that there is no Santa Clause or Easter Bunny. Does that mean that these entities must exist, by your foolish faith-based reasoning?"
Did your parents ever have any children that lived?
yongamerica,
Shall I check back in an hour to see if you have anything to add to your faith-based idiocy?
Posted by MCVet at 06:01 PM : Dec 14, 2007
I won''t call you names. Instead I will say open ''your'' eyes and look. Saddam controlled by fear, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, controlled by fear, Al Sadr controls by fear, Syria controls by fear, Iran is controlled by fear. Democracy cannot work in a country which is run by religion first and Government second,
Another eye-ya-tolla !
Does anyone think this guy belongs to us ?
I think we just invested a bundle in a repeat of "our shah in iran" - the neocons will never learn.
Posted by FeelFree1
No one is asking for you to prove anything make believe. All that is being asked is you prove your point with even one simple fact. Until then you have nothing to offer but unsubstantiated barbarous opinions.
Posted by FeelFree1 FEELFREE1 IS A COWARD,A FRAUD, AND A PHONY!!!
I have not problems with atheist. It is a personal choice, but when you make fun of someone for their religious beliefs - you have definitly stepped over the line on the intent of our constitution.
Really representative of the US public isn''t he.
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