Moqtada Tateral-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
has put his militia on alert to battle bully boyz belonging to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for the city of Samarra, home to a Shiite mosque whose destruction eight years ago plunged the country into sectarian war.
Sadr's office said the announcement was a response to the "exceptional conditions and imminent danger to the sacred city of Samarra from the legions of terrorists," a reference to the Sunni Moslem ISIS fighters who surround Samarra.
It said Sadr had ordered fighters of his Shiite 'Peace Brigades' to be "fully prepared to answer the call of jihad within 48 hours" and to await further instructions. The statement was dated Dec. 10.
| Mookie unfortunately can't come to the front with you -- I think his 'asthma' is flaring up right now. But he'll be at the party HQ where he'll eat a goat in your honor... |
Sadr's Peace Brigades left the city two months ago, but his latest statement suggested they could mobilize to return if ISIS fighters stationed at the approaches to the Tigris River city start to encroach on the urban center itself.
Samarra holds potent symbolism for Iraqis. In February 2006 Sunni bully boyz blew up a shrine to the ninth century Imam Askari, triggering Dire Revenge attacks by Shiites which tipped Iraq into years of sectarian violence.
ISIS controls the eastern and western desert approaches to the city, 125 km northwest of Baghdad.
The army holds the road from the south leading to Samarra, but the towns of Mu'tasim and Ishaqi flanking that road are largely controlled by the radical bad boys, while there have been heavy festivities in the village of Mukaishifa to the north.