Familial Links Between al Sadr and Hezbollah
More from Wretchard at Belmont Club on the alleged entry of Hizbollah into the war. (I say alleged because as I pointed out on my âblog, Hizbollah has been committing acts of war against the US for much longer than the "War on Terror" has been going on). He links to a Jerusalem Post article here. One newspaper connecting the recent fighting in Iraq with Syria and Iran is the Jerusalem Post. They maintain that the general staff behind the current anti-coalition activity is Hizbullah, working through their agenda Moqtada al-Sadr.This week it finally happened. Hizbullah has come out of the closet and launched a full-scale military campaign against US-led forces in Iraq. Two weeks after the US shelved its sanctions against Hizbullah sponsor Syria, and as the US remains silent in the face of increased Iranian assertiveness in advancing the mullocracyâs Manhattan Project, the cat jumped out of the bag. Ushering in his fight against the US, Hizbullah-Iranian front man Moqtada al-Sadr told his followers last Friday, "I am the striking arm for Hizbullah and Hamas in Iraq because the fate of Iraq and Palestine is the same." Under the spell of Sadrâs call to "terrorize" the Americans, Shiâite militiamen launched attacks in several cities at once. Militarily, the results have been mixed but have served to cause a political maelstrom by spooking US coalition partners into reconsidering their involvement in Iraq.
Hizbullahâs appearance in Iraq is not a surprise. Although Sadrâs offensive has been sudden, it followed a year-long buildup of Hizbullahâs organizational, propaganda, and military apparatuses in Iraq. In the weeks before the US-led invasion last March, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah was already calling for suicide bombings against US forces in the event that they went through with the invasion. Shortly after the fall of Saddamâs regime, Hizbullah opened offices in Basra and Safwan. While press coverage of Sadr has portrayed him as a young firebrand who acts autonomously, his connections to Hizbullah and to Iran are long-standing. Nasrallah is personally tied to Sadrâs family. In 1976, he studied under Sadrâs father Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr in Najaf. Back in Lebanon, Nasrallah joined the Shiâite Amal militia when it was led by its founder, Sadrâs uncle Musa. Aside from his personal ties to Nasrallah, Sadr takes his direction from Ayatollah Henri, one of the most ardent extremists in Iranian ruling circles. And on the family level, Sadrâs aunt is reportedly the first lady of Iran, Mrs. Muhammad Khatami. Iranian Revolutionary Guards reportedly comprise the backbone of Sadrâs fighting force. Hizbullahâs modus operandi was perfected in Lebanon, where it used astute political warfare to force the Israelis to withdraw from Lebanon, abandoning their Christian allies, and retreating behind the Green Line, which Hizbullah swore was their final demand -- and which they now claim is insufficient.
EFL; RTHT. To the editors: if the way Iâve tried to format a nested quotation isnât working for you, please suggest something better. Iâm out of ideas at the moment.
Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-04-10 |