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POPSWhittling Away At Shia Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
(continued) Al-Qaida in Iraq tried to ignite a sectarian war -- its now-dead emir, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, made that goal explicit in February 2004. Al-Qaida massacred en masse, to the point that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D for Defeatist) declared the war in Iraq lost. Then, the Sunni tribes in Anbar turned on al-Qaida. Sunni political integration is by no means complete, but al-Qaida has failed. In August 2004, Sadr's thugs grabbed the Grand Mosque in Najaf. Sadr was counting on Americans to bomb the mosque. The United States opted to follow the political lead of Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Sistani's aides told coalition officers: "Let us deal with Sadr. We know how to handle him and will do so. However, the coalition must not make him a martyr." Think of the Iraqi anti-Sadr method as a form of suffocation, a political war waged with the blessing of Ayatollah Sistani that requires daily economic and political action, persistent police efforts and occasional military thrusts.
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POPSal-Sadr ... Negotiating from Iran Sadr continues to play the political/religious card to his advantage... Forcing the government to deal with his (illegal) organization/militias will simply empower him in the eyes of the populace
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POPSal-Sistani throws in the towel Crooks and Liars has a videoclip of journalist David Ignatius saying back in July that if al-Sistani gives up, then "this effort is over"--presumably he means the US's efforts to create a functional government and avert civil war.
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