SHIITE CLERIC AL SISTANI FORBIDS IRAQIS FROM SELLING FOOD TO AMERICANS IN IRAQ

This is just another indication of how the Iraqi people can't stand the United States and want the US military out of their country as soon as possible.

Shiite Cleric al-Sistani Forbids Iraqis From Selling Food To Americans In Iraq

Huffington Post May 25, 2008 03:04 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/25/shiite-cleric-al-sistani_n_103493.html

Dick Cheney infamously said in March of 2003 that when the U.S. invaded Iraq, "we will be greeted as liberators." As the Iraq War enters its 6th year, Cheney's assertion has been shown as clearly false, with the U.S. battling a largely homegrown, Sunni insurgency and Shiite militias. In a sign of just how opposed some Shiite groups are to the U.S.'s presence in Iraq, one of the most powerful Shiite clerics in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a fatwa forbidding Iraqis from selling food to Americans (from Juan Cole):

Fars News reproduces in Persian on May 24, 2008, another anti-American fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf. It says that its correspondent in Najaf reports that an Iraqi Shiite submitted the following to Sistani:

'I sell foodstuffs. Sometimes the Occupying Powers or their associates come to my establishment. May I sell them foodstuffs?'
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani replied:

' Selling foodstuffs to the Occupying Powers is not permitted.'
Cole identifies another reason why this fatwa is important:

This fatwa is significant in light of the reports that Sistani has been orally permitting attacks on US troops by Shiite militiamen loyal to the Shiite religious authorities in Najaf.

VIDEO SURFACES OF CHENEY IN '94 SAYING INVASION OF IRAQ WOULD LEAD TO "QUAGMIRE"

A video of Vice President Dick Cheney warning in 1994 that an invasion and occupation of Iraq would lead to a quagmire has surfaced.

See for yourself what Cheney said:

http://www.infowars.com/articles/iraq/cheney_video_1994_warning_of_iraq_invasion_quagmire.htm

POLL FINDS AMERICANS HAVE LOW OPINION OF MILITARY HEALTH CARE

WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans believe that wounded troops don't receive high quality medical care in military and Veteran's Administration hospitals, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health poll.

By Federica Narancio McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/38419.html

Military families share that view, the poll found, and are slightly more pessimistic than non-military civilians when it comes to rehabilitation and mental health care. A reality check: Those polled didn't think care at major U.S. civilian hospitals was any better.

AL SADR LAWMAKERS DENOUNCE IRAQI GOVERNMENT--THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Warning of 'black clouds' on the horizon comes as government cracks down

The Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24804885/

BAGHDAD - Lawmakers loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused the Iraqi government of trying to crush the movement and warned Saturday of "black clouds" on the horizon for truces that have eased fighting between al-Sadr's militia and security forces.

The Sadrist Movement has heightened its rhetoric against the government in recent days, raising concerns over the cease-fires in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City district, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.

Still, the lawmakers and other al-Sadr officials said they are adhering to the truces. The cease-fires are crucial to Iraqi security forces' sweeps in Basra and Sadr City, launched by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to show his government can spread its authority in areas long dominated by armed groups like al-Sadr's.

The new tensions were sparked when Iraqi troops in Basra attempted to break up a gathering in a northern square by firing over the heads of al-Sadr followers congregating for Friday prayers. Iraqi authorities recently banned al-Sadr gatherings in the square after a large cache of weapons was found nearby, police officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation.

Iraqi police in Basra said one person was wounded in the shooting, but al-Sadr officials contended that one person was killed and three wounded.

Sadrist lawmaker Hassan al-Rubaie said Iraqi forces also raided a mosque in the Baghdad district of Amil before prayers on Friday and arrested more than 350 worshippers.

"We see that there is a big nationwide conspiracy against Friday prayers. They (the government) fear it, because the Friday prayers will stand against the plots of our enemies," al-Rubaie told a press conference, referring to the anti-U.S. rhetoric common in prayer sermons run by al-Sadr loyalists.