Yesterday the Seattle Times featured a book review by a former deputy Metro editor of theirs, John B. Saul, who also teaches journalism at the University of Montana. The book is "Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq" by Patrick Cockburn. In his book Cockburn gushes over al Sadr, and in his review Saul gushes Cockburn and by extension over he gushes over al Sadr as well.
Al-Sadr is not a carbon copy of Khomeini, and the extent of Iran's influence on him is a matter of dispute. But he is certainly, as Cockburn says, "the most important and surprising figure to emerge in Iraq since the U.S. invasion."
The review had to have been a labor of love for Mr. Saul, certain as he is that al Sadr is the most important figure to emerge in Iraq since the invasion. He says this under the extravagant headline, "Muqtada," a powerful man in a complex Iraq. Al Sadr may be powerful, and Iraq is surely complex, but the Sadr image cultivated by Mr. Saul is spoiled by the knowledge that al Sadr is not in Iraq. As far as anybody knows, he hasn't been been there in months.
Reports indicated that Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr yesterday refused to meet with an Iraqi Shiite parliamentary delegation visiting Iran, where Sadr is said to be residing.
The Shiite parliamentary delegation that al Sadr refused to meet, had traveled to Tehran to confront the Iranians with evidence of Iranian support for the anti-government Shiite militias in Iraq who are waging war against the Iraqi government.
Armed with the latest intelligence, a delegation from Iraq's governing Shiite alliance traveled to Iran on Wednesday to lay out its concerns to political, security and religious leaders and to discuss the way forward, said a close aide and two other politicians with ties to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
"The point is to press home the importance of Iran . . . cooperating with the Iraqi government and not dealing with any other illegal militias or factions outside the government," said senior advisor Haider Abadi, in some of the most pointed comments to date from a member of Maliki's inner circle. "We are looking for good, neighborly relations with Iran, but it cannot go on like this."
U.S. officials have been charging for months that Iran is arming, funding, training and directing breakaway factions of hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, groups they blame for some of the most lethal attacks against American troops in Iraq.
Increasingly, the Maliki government is behaving like the legitimate sovereign government of Iraq, and although it seems to be happening slowly, neighboring states are coming around to that view as well. A Turkish delegation on a diplomatic mission to Iraq did not seek out Moqtada al Sadr upon its arrival in the country.
A Turkish delegation arrived in Baghdad on Thursday to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, PM Nuri Al Maliki and Kurdish administration PM Nechirvan Barzani. The delegation's visit aims at boosting cooperation with Iraq, FM Babacan told reporters. (UPDATED)
The delegation, consisting of a senior Prime Ministry official Ahmet Davutoglu and Turkey's Special Representative to Iraq Murat Ozcelik, arrived in Baghdad on Thursday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told a news conference on Thursday that the Turkish delegation's visit to Baghdad aimed at boosting cooperation with Iraq.
"A new process has started between Turkey and the Iraqi central government, particularly after my visit to this country and the Iraqi president's visit to Turkey. The Turkish delegation will propose to establish a strategic dialogue mechanism between Turkey and Iraq. Turkish executives will discuss details of the mechanism with Maliki and Talabani," Babacan said.
Babacan also said the statements and actions of the local administration in northern Iraq towards the PKK will definitely have an impact on Turkey's current and future dialogue.
He added that Turkey was in contact with all groups in Iraq, and Turkey's target was stability, territorial integrity and the political unity of Iraq.
Presumably al Sadr's group is included among those in contact. However, the Sadrist political movement will be barred from participation in Iraq's political process unless the Mahdi Army is disbanded, according to recent legislation that bars groups that maintain armed militias.
Sadr and his political movement have become increasingly isolated since the fighting began in Basrah, Baghdad, and the South. The Iraqi government, with the support of the political parties, said the Sadrist political movement would not be able to participate in upcoming provincial elections if it failed to disband the Mahdi Army. On April 13, the cabinet approved legislation that prevents political parties with militias from contesting provincial elections this year. The bill will now be sent to parliament for approval. Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, the top Shiite cleric in Iraq, said the Mahdi Army was not above the law and should be disarmed. Sadr has refused to disband the Mahdi Army.
On April 20, Sadr threatened to conduct a third uprising, but later backed down from his threat, claiming it was only directed at US forces. The Maliki government has stood firm and said operations would continue until the Mahdi Army and other militias disarm and disband.
The notion that the Maliki government will pursue the Mahdi Army until they are disarmed and disbanded is apparently inconceivable to Cockburn and Saul. So often we see what we expect to see, instead of what is. Saul offers what is probably his fondest wish and what he expects to see.
Cockburn concludes that if al-Sadr had been brought into the political process from the beginning instead of resisted and fought against, "the chances of creating a peaceful, prosperous Iraq would have been greater."
It's unlikely that the U.S. would have cooperated in 2003 with someone whose newspaper once called the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "a miracle and blessing from God," but Cockburn may be correct in his assessment that nothing has been resolved in Iraq and that the "disintegration of Iraq has probably gone too far for the country to exist as anything more than a loose federation."
The meeting last Thursday between Turkish President Abdullah Gul met and Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi to discuss the territorial integrity and safety of Iraq, is indication of a development that has so far remained beneath the Cockburn/Saul radar. That development would be the rise of the Iraqi government, which is actively pursuing political and diplomatic objectives and has now developed the strength and confidence to demand that everybody else pursue their objectives diplomatically and politically -- including Moqtada al Sadr.
Saul/Cockburn obviously have a shared dream. A dream of the future Islamic Republic of Iraq. Where Sharia law prevails and honor killing of 17 year old girls by their father, is the norm. In other words, just like Basra is now, under the heavy hand of Sadr & his militia.
Obviously a couple of dhimmis who just don't get it.
Posted by: Christine | May 03, 2008 at 09:03 PM