That’s it. Moqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani are demanding a popular referendum on the SOFA the US is trying to impose on Iraq. By demanding a referendum the Shias are achieving three results:
a) they are completely by-passing the National Assembly
b) they are making the SOFA an election issue
c) any referendum on the SOFA will be a de-facto referendum on the US presence in Iraq
The Imperial Command is now in a loose/loose situation. If it allows the referendum to go ahead it will suffer a highly visible and embarrassing political defeat and the legitimacy of the US occupation (assuming there ever was one) will be *officially* down to zero. If it bans the referendum it will prove to the entire world that is is an occupying force which does not give a rat’s ass about what the Iraqis think (we already know that, but this will prove it).
It looks like the Shias have effectively checkmated the Occupation.
Sistani is one smart cat. Many were wondering when he would issue a fatwa against the coalition, but it appears he is far more subtle. He much prefers a non-violent method which is wise and shows he is concerned about the welfare of the public.
What is the U.S. counter move? to try to pretend this request for a referendum never happened and press on with pushing by hook and crook it through the parliament. I predict that references to this in the western media will be sparse…I also predict that tomorrow the sun will rise in the east and set in the west.
Also, since the main Sunni parties representing the insurgency have come out strongly against SOFA, is there any chance this is the common ground that’s been missing? Here’s to hoping.
What is the U.S. counter move? to try to pretend this request for a referendum never happened and press on with pushing by hook and crook it through the parliament
Yes, exactly. But if al-Sistani gets one million people in the streets and/or threatens to issue what Pepe Escobar calls “the BIG fatwa” (declaring a defensive jihad against the occupation) then what will the Empire do?
Whether they realize it or not, its over. As a result of their friggin stupid “redirection” they just lost Iraq (which was inevitable, of course).