Moqtada al-Sadr is planning on holding a million-person march aimed at ridding Iraq of US forces just before General David Petraeus, head of the multi-national forces in Iraq, goes to Washington to meet with President Bush and appear before Congress next Tuesday.
Iraq's Sadr calls million-strong march against U.S.
By Peter Graff and Ahmed Rasheed 9 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080403/ts_nm/iraq_dc
Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Thursday for a million-strong demonstration against U.S. "occupation," a potentially destabilizing show of force after his followers battled U.S. and government troops.
The demonstration would take place next Wednesday April 9, the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, when the U.S. commander in Iraq is also scheduled to brief Congress in Washington about progress in the war.
U.S. forces called in helicopter strikes during a clash with gunmen on Thursday in the city of Hilla and bombed a house in Basra overnight, stepping up raids after days of relative calm that followed a truce announced by Sadr on Sunday.
"The time has come to express your rejections and raise your voices loud against the unjust occupier and enemy of nations and humanity, and against the horrible massacres committed by the occupier against our honorable people," said a statement released by Sadr's office in the holy city of Najaf.
The statement called on Iraqis of all sects to descend on Najaf, site of annual Shi'ite pilgrimages that frequently attract hundreds of thousands of worshippers.
The government said it would not attempt to block the demonstration, provided it was not violent.
"The right to hold a peaceful demonstration and express opinions is guaranteed by the constitution, and we don't mind as long as the demonstration is peaceful," Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf told Reuters.
Sadr has millions of followers and was able to summon tens of thousands of people onto the streets in Baghdad for demonstrations during last week's fighting, but a march to Najaf would potentially mobilize entire swathes of Shi'ite Iraq.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
AL-SADR CALLS FOR MILLION PERSON MARCH JUST BEFORE GEN. PETRAEUS VISITS WASHINGTON
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6 comments:
Thank you for your work. The "mainstream" media has repeatedly failed the people of this country.
It's worse than Pravda ever was, because at least the people of the Soviet Union knew that they were being lied to. What the MSM does is more subtle: half-truths mixed in with omissions.
Thank you again.
Thanks for your comment. I agree with everything you wrote, especially the part about omissions.
Although Moqtada's Shi'ite militia was attacked in Basra by Hakim's Shi'ite militia during a ceasefire proclaimed by Moqtada, Moqtada is now trying peaceful democratic action. Meanwhile, the U.S. is bombing Basra, in violation of Sunday's truce. I guess that will teach the Iranians to try diplomacy!
From one minute to the next, bombs speak loudly, but over the long run, perceptions matter. Who is coming out of this mess looking more sophisticated and honorable?
IMO the perception/image of the United States has been damaged so much by the Bush administration I think it will take many, many years to restore the U.S. to any degree of respectability.
I certainly have no quarrel with your answer, but what I really had in mind (apologies for my imprecision) was the perception of Iraqis and other Arabs of who is coming out ahead in the Maliki-Sadr struggle. (WDM, http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com)
I think it is too early to tell, but right now I'd put my money on al-Sadr.
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