The Prime Minister gave Al Sadr an ultimatum attacked them and then stop the attacks, I guessed he found that his Iraqi army isn't up to par.
Right, but that is the joke of it. The Surge is supposedly creating room for political reconciliation and reducing violence. But the violence has just lingered and paused. And the Surge is providing room for Al Maliki to attack his rivals instead of reconcile. What a mess. What's crazy is how little news we get on this domestically. You have to go to foreign bureaus to get a more complete and detailed picture.
Al-Sadr is a figure of resistance in Iraq, the people support him more than the current forces occupying iraq, so why not pull out and let Sadr deal with things?
I doubt Al-Sadr has the necessary power both political and military to deal with the current situation, we are not talking about Shiites alone but also Sunnis and Kurds and also Al Qaeda.
You are probally right but he has alot more influence than the current goverment and the USA so surley he should be the leader?
Problem is USA demonized him too much already, it would be hard for the USA to support him officially so that he can replace the current govt, not forgetting that the current govt is "democratically" elected.
Secret plans for US troops to stay in Iraq http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/08/wiraq208.xml
What did you think otherwise? The precious oil contracts between American oil companies and the Iraq government is not worth sh*t if there is no American army to enforce it. The contracts are for 25-40 years, so it gives you a good estimate how long they have to be there.
Al Sadr said he will dismantle his army if the religious higher ups ask him recommend him to in the up coming meeting between them.
In some cases, the media can make a losing war into a winning war by constant play and replay of the victorious scenes. It can sublimely made people believe that black = white. Do not under estimate the power of the media.
Really good article about how both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over, and now they are occupations. And despite the rhetoric from guys like McCain, there is no dishonor in ending the occupation and coming home. THE WARS ARE OVER. I really recommend reading this to get another perspective of the situation and factions in Iraq. The MSM does any excellent job muddying the differences between all of the groups, making it seem like "the enemy" is everywhere... It's Occupation, Not War http://www.antiwar.com/reese/?articleid=12680
Such occupations will not last, it will end up bankrupting USA and destroying the two countries in the process. I remembered there used to be a time when USA refused to even had colonies of their own because of their experiences as a colony themselves. Sad that the change is towards occupying others' countries. USA to be was the Good Forces, but now I must say that their way of doing things disillusioned me a lot. Pity there isn't really any country capable of replacing USA in the foreseeable future. Just hope things will improve when Bush is gone.
Well Al Sadr basically did. That guy is a ravaing lunatic. If any of you have read up about any of his beliefs then you would be able to see that. I honestly think we should since he has murdered thousands of Iraqi people.
Uhm, Al Sadr has been managing the ceasefire. Al Maliki moved troops into Sadr City and started harassing/arresting members of the Mahdi army. Even with the harassment, Al Sadr tried to keep his troops stood down. I don't think you have a clue of what you speak about. Of course you do. You support criminals, it only makes sense you would be one yourself.
True but at the same time if he never started the pointless death squads then we would not have this problem would we? He should not have any troops whatsoever in the first place. More then you You know that was a typo so do not try to put things in my mouth
Death squads? Source? It's his country, not ours. Who are you to say what he and his people can do in their own country? Prove it. Correct your typo then. I read "has" as "have". Other than that, your intent seemed pretty clear. You'd like to slaughter Iraqis, and you don't think they should be able to defend themselves.