In Iraq the U.S. will negotiate with anybody, except al-Qaeda

The United States of America is negotiating with everybody in Iraq -- except al-Qaeda. Think about that for a minute. That includes Sunni, Shia, Kurd, insurgent, militia, brigades, you name it. The United States is willing to cooperate and wants national reconciliation for all people in Iraq. Supposedly national reconciliation is what Muqtada al-Sadr wants also. He has a new political project called "reform and reconciliation." I suppose this is building on his former initiative "Movement for National Liberation of Iraq from Foreign Occupation."

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's difficult for the average person on the street to reconcile with others who are killing, bombing and destroying their lives, when the elected government officials can't get along. Heck, the different Shiite groups can't even get along. Sadr can't make nice "with the dominant Shi'ite coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), of which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Al-Dawah Party is a part." Nor does he get along with the UIA's other major figure, Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

Al-Hakim and his organization are the dominant force behind the UIA, with the largest share of seats in the alliance -- 36 -- and control of a powerful militia, the Badr Organization.

There have been numerous reports of a power struggle between SCIRI and al-Sadr's group to control several Shi'ite population centers in southern Iraq. Armed clashes have resulted between the Badr Organization and the Imam Al-Mahdi Army in Baghdad, Al-Diwaniyah, and Al-Najaf. (source)

Get this, "parliament members have complained of the heightened security, saying submitting to searches by non-Iraqi guards offends their dignity." OK, better to be offended than dead. While the Democrats in the United States work on a bill to remove troops from Iraq, 30 Sadrist lawmakers are pushing a bill for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces in Iraq and a freeze on their existing levels.

The Sadrists say they have secured the support of 144 lawmakers, but the draft was not expected to win the support of so many if it ever comes to a vote.

Militiamen from al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army fought American forces for much of 2004 in Baghdad and across a string of cities and towns in central and southern Iraq. They have kept a low profile since a major security push was launched in Baghdad three months ago, but dozens of the militiamen have been detained in pinpoint raids. (source)

Now Sadr is calling for a Summit of Militia and Insurgent Leaders. I have very good reason to believe Sadr is NOT in Iran. Trust me on this one. My guess is he never left Iraq, but if he did leave Iraq for a time, he did not go to Iran. (More on Sadr's whereabouts in future posts.)

The Saudi daily "Al-Watan" reported on April 22 that former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi met with al-Sadr and his representatives in the holy city of Al-Najaf, in the hopes of having al-Sadr's movement join Allawi's developing political coalition, the Iraq National Front. (more)

Gives the old saying "can't we all just get along" an entirely new meaning. According to this report, Sadr's group is protecting women, children, and college professors in Sadr City, whether they are Shiite or Sunni. Women are teaching and girls are going to school, whether Shiite or Sunni.

The United States is pushing for the oil profit sharing bill to be passed, as one of the benchmarks. However, Sadr and his followers are working against this bill to see that is does NOT pass.

“The Shiite death squads, too, are under pressure. The number of sectarian murders is down in Baghdad. More important, the radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr signaled recently that he wants to talk to the Maliki government about a political deal. "Moqtada is feeling the heat," says Fallon. "His followers are starting to head off in different directions." (David IGNATIUS, Washington Post, 15 May 2007)

Earlier Ignatius said that Sadr has been playing it both ways -- to oppose the U.S. presence in Iraq even as he uses the U.S.-backed government to advance his interests. Sadr is still doing that.

Sadr has been the biggest winner in the power vacuum of Iraq. A senior U.S. intelligence analyst told me this week that Sadr's forces are eight times larger than they were in August, 2004. If provincial elections were held today, the intelligence official said, Sadr's party would win in every Shiite province of Iraq but one. (WaPo)

So where does that leave the United States? Mort Kondracke says, " ... the administration is committed to building a unified, reconciled, multi-sectarian Iraq - "winning clean." ... But it may not be possible."

The 80percent alternative involves accepting rule by Shiites and Kurds, allowing them to violently suppress Sunni resistance and making sure that Shiites friendly to the United States emerge victorious.

No one has publicly advocated this PlanB, and I know of only one member of

Congress who backs it - and he wants to stay anonymous. But he argues persuasively that it's the best alternative available if Bush's surge fails. (more)

So negotiations go on and Plan B seems like the final solution.

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Returning trackbacks and other reading:

American Whores of the Caliphate & the ADC: Working towards your dhimmise through infiltration and taqiyya: Part IV (A MUST READ ARTICLE) from The Outraged Spleen of Zion

A world filled with Muslims, a world without art, The HILL Chronicles

Al-Qaida Tells The U.S. Military To Stop the Search For the Soldiers

Conservative Podcast: Is the GOP Breaking Up?, Adam's Blog

Laura Ingraham - Is Katie Couric Bad for CBS Evening News?, Conservative Cat

Yankee Or Dixie: Which Are You?, The World According to Carl

Our enemies fight for Fantasies, not Freedom, Diary of the Mad Pigeon

Carry a concealed weapon? That’s just crazy talk….apparently, Learning Straight Up

CAIR: Partners With the Jihadist “Fort Dix Six”?, The Amboy Times

al-Qaeda aligns with Congressional Democrats, Potbelly , Huge search is on for ambushed soldiers , Potbelly Stove

Hollywood's Most Beautiful Breasts, Planck's Constant

Pope An Anti-Capitalist! (oh and has something to say about Marxism too...) Dumb Ox Daily News

Comments

[babbazee]

Excellent work.
When Sadr did not achieve room temp in 2004 was when I had revelation #9 about this entire enterprise and I got my shock and awe - it just wasn't the shock and awe I I had voted for.

We shall know them by their fruits, mah sistah.

Jewhad!