Sadr Not Disbanding Militia

by: LT Nixon

Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 13:04:43 PM EDT


Despite the Iraqi Prime Minister calling for the Mahdi Army to surrender their weapons and stop interfering in the state's affairs, Sadr has dismissed the demands as "illogical".  From the International Herald Tribune:

Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has rejected conditions set by Iraq's prime minister for stopping the military crackdown against his Mahdi Army militia. An al-Sadr spokesman accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of wanting to resolve the problem by force instead of dialogue.

There is significant political pressure on the Sadrists from the various blocs in the Iraqi government for the Mahdi Army to disband, but the Sadrists are seemingly unwilling to capitulate.  Meanwhile, in Sadr City, militia members have prevented services (in this case, trash collection) from getting into the area, so that they can maintain their stranglehold on the Shi'ite district of 2 million.  It is certainly frustrating, since the fall of Baghdad was 5 years ago, and US forces are engaged in a battle with an enemy (Shi'ite militias, some of whom are Iranian-backed) that would have a slim chance of posing a direct threat to US national security. Make no mistake, the troops in Sadr City are doing a stand up job, which is highlighted well by NY Times embed, Michael R. Gordon, but in the grand scheme of things the long-term goals remain unclear.  This--at a time when the Afghan President was almost assassinated--may call for a re-examination of foreign policy priorities.

LT Nixon :: Sadr Not Disbanding Militia
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If the Mahdi army were to be disbanded (0.00 / 0)
What is the likelihood of the Sadrist Movement being allowed to rejoin the United Iraqi Alliance?  It is my understanding that the only reason that the Sadr Trend maintains the Mahdi Army is because they feel they would have no political standing without them.  Especially against the Badr "Organization".

"No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain because they're carrying out the missions of their commander in chief. And we honor all the service that they've provided." - Barack Obama

It's a tragic outcome (4.00 / 1)
It's a tragic outcome because the people we are fighting are the same people we expected to welcome Americans as liberators five years ago.  Al-Sadr now defines liberation as when the coalition forces go home.

Sadr has really impressed me. (0.00 / 0)
When I was in Iraq, I saw Sadr as a sort of no talent demagogue, riding his dad's coattails, sort of like our president. However, over the last year, this guy has proven to be politically and militarily astute. The Iraqi government and Maliki in particular don't have the talent or the backing to effectively deal with him. We can't negotiate directly with him because it would undermine the government. Without trying to sound McCain-esque, isn't the only solution to take him out?? Thoughts???

Taking him out would not work. (4.00 / 1)

In my opinion, taking him out would only increase the power vacuum. The people or groups that would step into that vacuum are scarier than he is.

[ Parent ]
If we are back to talking about the lesser of two evils.. (4.00 / 1)
then we are really back to square one. Wasn't Saddam Hussein alot better than chaos or a Iran friendly Shia regime? It hurts my head to think about this too much.

[ Parent ]
I would say (0.00 / 0)
Sadr is not that terrible an option. He is by no means friendly to the US, but could serve as a counter of sorts to AQI, which could actually be very useful.

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