Patterico's Pontifications

4/20/2008

Hoping Al-Sadr Will Fade Away

Filed under: War — DRJ @ 9:23 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Wretchard at The Belmont Club has a round-up of encouraging al-Sadr news. First, from the AP:

“Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers. …

“I know he’s sitting in Iran,” Rice said dismissively, when asked about al-Sadr’s latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. “I guess it’s all-out war for anybody but him,” Rice said. “I guess that’s the message; his followers can go to their deaths and he’s in Iran.”

There’s more at the link from Bill Roggio and the New York Times, as well as thoughts on how these developments may affect the next President.

Also, there’s a notice that the Belmont Club will be moving to a new site so keep a watch for the new address.

— DRJ

9 Responses to “Hoping Al-Sadr Will Fade Away”

  1. I like her definiton of cowardice.

    stef (b7ee98) — 4/20/2008 @ 9:28 pm

  2. *sigh*

    Yes yes. Bush is a coward, we’re horrible chickenhawks, and you’re so rightous…

    Blow it out yer ass, Stef.

    Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 4/20/2008 @ 9:35 pm

  3. al-Sadr stirring up trouble is one of the democrats’ remaining hopes for defeat in Iraq. Reviewing the glee with which the media misreported Maliki’s offensive against his militia reinforces the depths of hate America sentiment rampant in this country.

    daleyrocks (906622) — 4/20/2008 @ 10:09 pm

  4. Unusual for Ms. Rice to lay on a good, hard, no-frills faceslap like that. Sadr is now required to respond, and, if he is the petulant little Che-wannabe I think he is, he will.

    Following the last little uprising, the dismissal of the cowards who ran and the bolstering and excellent performance of those who stepped in to clean up Basra and carry the day… it would be a superb time for the coalition to hand Sadr and the Mahdi militias a gutshot they won’t recover from.

    Prognostication on these affairs is not my strong suit, but I have a feeling it’s the beginning of the end for Mookie Sadr and his Merry Men.

    Anon 1:50 (a999cd) — 4/21/2008 @ 7:08 am

  5. Do you think Mookie is moving up the priority list for Hellfire targets?

    Another Drew (f9dd2c) — 4/21/2008 @ 8:40 am

  6. “*sigh*

    Yes yes. Bush is a coward, we’re horrible chickenhawks, and you’re so rightous…

    Blow it out yer ass, Stef.”

    – Scott Jacobs

    Whether or not you like it, that’s the logical extension of Rice’s moronic little dismissal.

    Leviticus (68eff1) — 4/21/2008 @ 10:29 am

  7. The administration has, in concert with the Iraqi government, done an amazing job whittling down Sadr’s influence in Iraq. There was a time Sadr could make the entire South boil – now his influence is mostly limited to Sadr City. Even there his people can no longer act freely.

    I don’t think he’ll be around much longer. The Iranians will have no use for a powerless tool.

    Eric (09e4ab) — 4/21/2008 @ 12:45 pm

  8. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/middleeast/21shiite.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    “In the Iraqi government’s fight to subdue the Shiite militia of Moktada al-Sadr in the southern city of Basra, perhaps nothing reveals the complexities of the Iraq conflict more starkly than this: Iran and the United States find themselves on the same side.

    The causes of this convergence boil down to the logic of self-interest, although it is logic in a place where even the most basic reasoning refuses to go in a straight line. In essence, though, the calculation by the United States is that it must back the government it helped to create and take the steps needed to protect American troops and civilian officials.

    Iranian motivations appear to hinge on the possibility that Mr. Sadr’s political and military followers could gain power in provincial elections this fall, and disrupt the creation of a semiautonomous region in the south that the Iranians see as beneficial.”

    In fighting Sadr we’re fighting an Iraqi nationalist who has asked Sunni and Shia to work together against the US and Iran.
    Pretty straightforward if you want to pay attention. But you don’t.

    testing (74027b) — 4/21/2008 @ 7:36 pm

  9. “The Iranians will have no use for a powerless tool.”

    The Iranians have Badr and SCIRI.

    stef (48e229) — 4/21/2008 @ 8:09 pm


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