Mahdi Army Stands Firm in its Basra NeighborhoodsDemonstrations in Baghdad against al-Maliki By Juan Cole “Information Clearinghouse” — – People are asking me the significance of the fighting going on in Basra and elsewhere. My reading is that the US faced a dilemma in Iraq. It needed to have new provincial elections in an attempt to mollify the Sunni Arabs, especially in Sunni-majority provinces like Diyala, which has nevertheless been
by Matt Duss for Foreign Policy in Focus In a July 11 Wall Street Journal op-ed, writer Kimberly Kagan touted the success of the Iraq surge strategy. Kagan noted, among other supposed triumphs, that the Maliki government had “confronted Muqtada al-Sadr for promoting illegal militia activity, and has apparently prompted this so-called Iraqi nationalist to leave for Iran for the second time since January.” While one can perhaps excuse Kagan’s
Moqtada al-Sadr visits with Ali al-Sistani (Voices of Iraq) – Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr visited, on Sunday night, top Shiite cleric ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in his office in Najaf and both discussed the latest security and political developments in Iraq, a source from Sistani’s office said. “Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr visited, today at 9:30 pm, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and both leaders discussed the political and security situation in the country,”
Al-Manar TV reports that the head of Iraq’s Sadr bloc, Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, has said the US is responsible for all of Iraq’s woes, calling on Arab nations to help end Iraq’s suffering. In comments during an interview on Iraqi state television, Sadr said the US is behind the sectarian violence in Iraq, the schism between Iraqi ethnic groups and the country’s economic hardships. He called for a “cultural resistance”
By Raed Jarrar and Joshua Holland, AlterNetPosted on June 5, 2007,http://www.alternet.org/story/53230/ While most observers are focused on the U.S. Congress as it continues to issue new rubber stamps to legitimize Bush’s permanent designs on Iraq, nationalists in the Iraqi parliament — now representing a majority of the body — continue to make progress toward bringing an end to their country’s occupation. The parliament today passed a binding resolution that will
