BUSH'S DEMANDS FOR BASES IN IRAQ COULD TRIGGER OFF VIOLENCE

The relative calm in Iraq is hanging by a thread and it has nothing to do with the so-called success of "the surge."

Muqtada al-Sadr has promised to work with the Iraqi government but ONLY if Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agrees to stop President Bush's plan of establishing semi-permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

The mainstream media in the United States also fails to provide any information on the number of insurgents or members of Al Qaeda who were killed or captured during the "surge." All the American public hears about is how the "surge" was a roaring success, but in any war there are always casualties of the enemy but the "surge" apparently didn't bring about any casualties of the insurgents or Al Qaeda.

There is a report this morning that the top officials of Al Qaeda in Iraq have left and are now setting up operations along with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Firebrand cleric tells followers not to attack Iraqi government forces

By Nicholas Spangler and Mohammed Al Dulaimy McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/46011.html

BAGHDAD — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr on Wednesday offered full support for Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's government if it refuses to sign an agreement President Bush has sought to allow semi-permanent stationing of U.S. troops in Iraq. Sadr warned at the same time that he would oppose any agreement between Iraq and the United States.Sadr's followers have abandoned active resistance in recent months, as Maliki's government has asserted its authority in military offensives around the country. Sadr's statement, posted Wednesday on his Web site, said that elements of his insurgency had erred in targeting fellow Iraqis and called for a centralized resistance directed only against U.S. occupiers.

Declaring that resistance to an occupier "is a legitimate right by human reason and in Islamic and human law," he called on Shiite clerics to "issue their fatwas against signing any agreement between the government and the occupier, even if it is for friendship or any other purpose." » read more http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/46011.html