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| Iraq |
| Al-Sadr's movement backs neither Iraq front-runner |
| 2010-04-07 |
| An influential Shiite movement did not back either front-runner in a poll on who to support for Iraq's next prime minister, further muddying on Wednesday the political situation in the aftermath of the inconclusive March elections. In a survey, supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr voted 24 percent for him to support Shiite politician Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who was interim prime minister from 2005 to 2006, the movement's spokesman Salah al-Obeidi announced. Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his chief rival Ayad Allawi received only 10 percent and 9 percent of votes respectively. Al-Obeidi left open whether al-Sadr would follow the guidance of his supporters in the course of future negotiations, saying that "each event has its own way," but the results seemed certain to at least add further complications to the already long drawn-out negotiating period that has followed the March 7 election. Allawi's bloc came out ahead in the vote by two seats over al-Maliki's coalition, but both parties are far short of the necessary majority needed to govern alone. The candidates are now scrambling to muster the support needed to form a government. The poll of al-Sadr's supporters was widely viewed as a way for the cleric to give himself the opportunity to back someone other than al-Maliki, under the guise of following the people's will. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 It still amazes (and angers) me that we let al-Sadr go. He is responsible for the deaths of many American Soldiers and Iraqi civilians, and he has close ties with Iran. The fact that this man continues to have such political sway is a testament to how poorly this war was handled in its first four years. We had al-Sadr cornered more than once early on, let him go, and watched as he helped spur brutal sectarian violence while spearheading an Iran backed insurgency. By my second tour in Iraq his militia controlled the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation, complete with its own fleet of vehicles and paramilitary forces. Their members worked quasi-openly in places like Baghdad International Airport, and they had financial support from the Iraqi government which they used to wage war against our military and innocent Iraqi civilians. The US Military is full of men and women with the heart and courage to do the difficult right rather than the easy wrong. Too bad we can't say the same for the politicians who send them to war. Al-Sadr is alive and kicking only because of politics; because he comes from a powerful family with ties to the fledgling Iraqi government; because our politicians and bureaucrats didn't have the balls to take him down and piss off his buddies for a few years. Al-Sadr was the head of the snake in a militant organization that was structured much differently from modern al-Qaeda forces. The long term stability produced by his death wouldÂ’ve far outweighed any short term consequences. Al-Sadr is an entrenched remnant of the same fast track policies that spurred President BushÂ’s 2003 victory celebration (one I distinctly remember since IÂ’d been getting shot at not 8 hours before I watched it), and such is the case with much of the rest of the Iraqi government. Thankfully, Mr. Bush, who I truly admire, finally fired Rumsfeld and got a real strategy for Iraq. Unfortunately, the poor decisions he allowed early on will continue to haunt the Iraqi political system. |
| Posted by: Keeney 2010-04-07 10:19 |