23/8/06:US SPONSORED DEATH SQUADS DISTURB IRAQI SHIITE(GLW/FWD)
- From: uneoo@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 30 Aug 2006 03:20:18 +1100
GREENLEFT WEEKLY, 23 AUG 2006
IRAQ: Lebanon conflict threatens US-Shiite rift
Doug Lorimer
The August 7 Washington Post reported that after a predawn raid by
Iraqi troops and American military advisers on a stronghold of Shiite
cleric Moqtada al Sadr erupted into a two-hour gun battle Monday,
pro-US Iraqi PM Nuri al Maliki made a televised address apologising
for the raid.
Maliki, who leads a coalition of Shiite Islamist parties, said he was
very angered by the raid into the heart of Sadr City, Baghdads
2-million-strong Shiite slum district, which was conducted without the
agreement of the government an admission that it is the US military
that controls the operations of Iraqi government troops.
The raid, which targeted members of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, was
part of an offensive the US occupation forces began in early July
against sectarian death squads even though it is well-known that
Baghdads real death squads operate out of the US adviser- dominated
Iraqi security forces, particularly the interior ministrys
11,000-strong Iraqi Special Police Commando Division.
The August 14 USA Today reported that US officials estimate the Mahdi
Army has 6000-8000 members in Sadr City. The growing strength of the
Mahdi Army, the US national daily reported, is raising concerns that
an ongoing US-Iraqi offensive could trigger a clash with the group
.... US and Iraqi officials have been careful to say the Baghdad
offensive is designed to go after sectarian death squads and militias
of all stripes, partly to avoid singling out the Mahdi Army, which
clashed with US forces two years ago.
In April 2004, the US occupation forces launched an offensive to
capture or kill Sadr, an outspoken opponent of the US occupation of
Iraq. By November 2004, the Mahdi Army had fought the US military to a
stalemate in Sadr City and in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
During 2005, an uneasy truce prevailed between the US-led occupation
forces and Sadr's movement, which, since the January parliamentary
election, has 32 MPs, more than any other single party.
In an op-ed piece in the August 9 Los Angeles Times, Ragan Menon, a
professor of international relations at Lehigh University and a fellow
at the New America Foundation, warned that Washington's public support
for Israel's war on Lebanon was threatening to lead to an open rift
between [Iraq's] Shiites and the United States.
After noting that Sadr was the first to rail against the Israeli
bombardment and Washington's fulsome support of it, Menon wrote: Sadr
is driven by more than religious solidarity with Hezbollah. He also
seeks to outflank moderate Shiite leaders, particularly Prime Minister
Nuri Maliki, perhaps even Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, and he knows
that the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon could boost his already
substantial political stock.
Not surprisingly, then, Maliki was quick to condemn Israeli attacks in
the wake of Sadrs statements. Other senior Shiite clerics and Iraq's
main Shiite parties, Dawa and the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, weighed in, expressing solidarity with Lebanon and
lambasting Israel.
After some delay, Sistani, by far the most influential Shiite leader,
also pilloried Israel's 'flagrant aggression and 'outrageous
oppression and, while not specifically naming the United States,
accused the world of 'turning a blind eye to Lebanese suffering.
After Israel's July 30 attack on a residential building in Qana
.... Sistani issued a fatwa condemning the 'dastardly crime by the
'Israeli enemy. He called for an immediate ceasefire and warned that
Muslims 'will not excuse parties that put obstacles in the way of
this. (What he left unsaid, but that was nevertheless clear to all
who read the fatwa, was that it is the United States that opposed the
ceasefire for several weeks in hopes of giving Israel time to destroy
Hezbollah s bastions in southern Lebanon.)
Menon warned that it is one thing for the United States to have Sadr
as an enemy; it's altogether different to lose the support of moderate
Shiite leaders such as Maliki and Sistani. Without such support, the
US would be forced to fold its tent and go home. A ceasefire in
Lebanon, he argued, was the only way to avoid this scenario.
The August 11 New York Times reported that the US ambassador to Iraq
had claimed that Iran is pressing Shiite militias here to step up
attacks against the US forces in response to the Israeli assault on
Lebanon. His remarks are the first public statements by a senior Bush
administration official directly linking violence in Iraq to American
support of Israel's military campaign in Lebanon.
Iran and Hezbollah want the Iraqi Shiite leaders to behave by
mobilising against the [US-led occupation] coalition or taking actions
against the coalition, ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told the NYT, which
noted that on August 4 Sadr had summoned up to 100,000 followers to an
anti-Israeli and anti-American rally in Baghdad.
The August 14 Washington Post claimed that Iran's prodding has led to
a surge in mortar and rocket attacks on the fortified Green Zone in
Baghdad.
From Green Left Weekly, August 23, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.
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