NAJAF
Bush Ignited This Insurgency,
Not Muqtada al-Sadr
JNV Anti-War Briefing 61 (13 August 2004)
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ASSAULTING THE SHIA
MAJORITY
The United States has launched a war against a large part of
the Iraqi people. It is the Bush Administration's desire for
total domination, not the militancy of Shia insurgents, that
has triggered this latest uprising. The US is trying to tame
the Shia majority.
At the time of writing, US forces have
surrounded the most holy site in Shia Islam, the Imam Ali mosque
in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, after eight days of fierce
fighting with the forces of Muqtada al-Sadr, reportedly leaving
hundreds dead. Elsewhere, 'US air strikes and fighting
on the ground in the [largely Shia] Iraqi city of Kut have left
72 people dead and about 150 injured,' according to the interim
Iraqi government. (BBC News Online, 12 Aug.)
'British troops [have also] fought fierce
battles with militants in Amara and Basra... British toops launched
an offensive overnight on Tuesday [10 Aug.] against Shia fighters
in the southern town of Amara, killing 10 of them, the militiamen
said. Hospital officials in the town said four civilians had
also died.' (Telegraph, 12 Aug., p. 12) 'The purpose was to
regain control of al-Amarah,' said Squadron Leader Spike Wilson,
British forces spokesperson. ('British troops kill 10', Times,
12 Aug.) Control is what it's all about.
NEXT STOP: SADR
CITY, BAGHDAD
'One of the biggest challenges to the interim prime minister,
Iyad Allawi, is to stamp his authority on the capital. Sadr
City, as the Shia suburb in north-east Baghdad is known, has
increasingly started to ressemble 1980s Beirut. Scores have
died in the past week as American tanks and fighter aircraft
have fought the insurgents.' Adrian Blomfield of the Telegraph
visited Sadr City: 'That civilians are being killed by US troops
is not in doubt. In a pool of blood on a hospital operating
room floor yesterday, doctors were battling to save the life
of six-year-old Ali Hussain-shot in the belly' by soldiers in
a US tank. The doctors said, 'We have had at least 20 dead brought
in today.' (Telegraph, 12 Aug., p. 12)
Mehdi Nouri, a shopkeeper in Sadr City,
said: 'The Americans can never win us back now. The Americans
are frightened of ordinary Iraqi people, that is why they hate
us. We are frightened of them, that is why we hate them. In
such a situation we can only see death and more deaths. We are
begging the Americans to leave.' (Telegraph, 12 Aug., p. 12)
ALLAWI SERVES WASHINGTON
This is a US assault on Najaf. 'Iraqi government troops are
also involved, though their participation may be largely for
political reasons-not least to signal that this is an operation
that has the full backing of Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi.' (Jonathan Marcus, Diplomatic Correspondent, BBC News
Online, 12 Aug.)
'Iyad Allawi, the interim prime minister,
has laid his credibility on the line by promising total destruction
of [Sadr's] Mahdi army.' (Telegraph, 12 Aug., p. 12) However,
'Ibrahim al-Jaafari, one of Iraq's two vice-presidents and leader
of the biggest Shia party, the Da'awa, yesterday [11 Aug.] said
US troops should stop fighting in Najaf and leave the job to
Iraqi security forces.' (Guardian, 12 Aug., p. 3) Jaafari 'has
topped opinion polls as Iraq's most popular politician' earlier
this year. (FT, 12 Aug., p. 7)
THE US STARTED THIS
UPRISING, NOT SADR
'A diplomatic source in Baghdad said yesterday that it was unclear
why the cleric was leading the bloody uprising, the second that
he has instigated in four months.' ('British troops kill 10',
Times, 12 Aug.) Media reporting has done its best to obscure
the origins of the violence.
The simple truth is that, as in the case
of the first 'Sadr uprising', this violence has been 'instigated'
not by Shia militants, but by the United States.
Go back to the beginning, 2 Aug.: 'US forces
in Iraq went on the offensive against two Islamist political
groups yesterday [2 Aug.], arresting an influential Sunni cleric
in Baghdad and breaking a two-month ceasefire with followers
of Shia radical Moqtada al-Sadr, based in Kufa. Sheikh Mahmoud
al-Sudani, a spokesman for Mr Sadr in Baghdad, told journalists
that US soldiers had surrounded Mr Sadr's house. Reuters news
agency quoted witnesses saying that US forces had moved into
Mr Sadr's neighbourhood in Kufa, next to Najaf, and were exchanging
fire with members of Mr Sadr's Shia militia, the Mehdi Army.'
(FT, 3 Aug., p. 9)
Interestingly, despite later denials, it
was clear in first reports that the mission was to arrest Sadr:
'The US military says an Iraqi arrest warrant has been issued
for Sadr in relation to the killing of a rival cleric in Najaf
last year.' The Independent also noted that 'during truce negotiations
earlier this year, Iraqi officials said Sadr would not face
arrest.' (Independent, 3 Aug., p. 25) Another broken promise.
A few days later Sabah Khadim, a senior
adviser to the Allawi government, indirectly confirmed that
arresting Sadr is a priority: 'Asked whether Mr Sadr would be
arrested, Mr Khadim said: "We don't know exactly where
he is, but we will fight all criminals. It does not matter how
big they are.' (Guardian, 7 Aug., p. 1)
The 2 Aug. raid was followed by 'days of
mounting tension during which Mr Sadr's supporters seized 18
Iraqi police officers in response to the arrest of several of
the cleric's senior aides.' Full-scale violence in Najaf came
on 4 Aug. (Guardian, 6 Aug., p. 2)
It wasn't until 5 Aug. that 'Militants
linked to the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr declared holy
war on British forces'. In Basra, British forces had arrested
four Sadr supporters on 3 Aug. Fighting broke out on 5 Aug.
'after the expiry of a noon deadline to release them.' (Telegraph,
6 Aug., p. 14)
All this is very like the start of the
spring 'Sadr uprising', which was triggered 'after the US-led
occupation authorities closed his newspaper, arrested a key
aide and called for his arrest over the killing of a moderate
Shia leader.' (BBC News Online, 16 June)
On 5 Aug., a Sadr spokesperson in Amara
said of this latest violence, quite accurately, 'The ceasefire
is over because of the actions of the occupation forces.' (Telegraph,
6 Aug., p. 14)
SADR CALLS FOR A
CEASEFIRE
Despite all this, on the same day, 'a spokesman for Mr Sadr
called for the restoration of a truce agreed in June between
Mr Sadr's forces and US troops.' (FT, 6 Aug., p. 5) The governor
of Najaf, Adnan al-Zurufi, responded to this appeal with the
statement that, 'There is no compromise or room for another
truce.' (Times, 7 Aug., p. 18) A US diplomat said, 'This is
one battle we really do feel we can win.' (Telegraph, 7 Aug.,
p. 12) No more ceasefires.
The reason Sadr wants a ceasefire is because
he wants to become part of the political process. As part of
the first truce, 'Mr Sadr issued a statement calling on his
men who are not from Najaf to "do their duty" and
go home... [and] announced he would set up a political party
to contest elections next year.' The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in
Baghdad suggested that the order for non-resident fighters to
leave Najaf might be 'a tentative step to secure a place in
a future Iraqi government.' Sadr 'urged supporters not to attack
Iraqi security forces, and said the recently formed interim
government was a opportunity to "build a unified Iraq".'('Sadr
orders militia to quit Najaf', BBC News Online, 16 June)
Sadr was no longer calling the interim
government a puppet of the US; he was preparing for political,
not military, mobilisation.
It is precisely the political strength
of the Shia majority that the Allawi government and the Bush
Administration fear and wish to destroy. That is why they launched
the raid to capture Sadr. That is why they are willing to invade
Najaf and kill hundreds. That is why they are assaulting Shia
communities all over Iraq.
It is not Sadr's guns, but his votes that
pose a threat to US domination. Elections (even the national
assembly conference) cannot be held until the opposition has
been co-opted or crushed.
Private Lee O'Callaghan, who was
killed in fighting in Basra on 9 Aug. was due to return to the
UK the following week. His aunt, Margaret Evans, said, 'My message
to Tony Blair is we should not be there. Why are we in Iraq?
My message would be, get the rest of the kids out.' (Telegraph,
11 Aug., p. 10)
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