Cleric Sadr Key Player In Helping Poor Iraqis: Report
The anti-U.S. movement of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is now Iraq’s main humanitarian organization helping needy Iraqis, a relief group said in a report that is certain to cause concern in Washington.
In the report published on Tuesday, Refugees International said Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia as well as other Shi’ite and Sunni Arab militias were expanding their influence by providing food, shelter and other essentials to Iraqis left destitute by war.
The findings underscore Sadr’s mass appeal ahead of provincial elections in October and will cause concern for U.S. officials who see reducing the influence of the militias as one of the Iraqi government’s key challenges.
Sadr’s political movement will compete for the first time in the local polls and is expected to make gains at the expense of other Shi’ite parties supporting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Sadr, once an ally of Maliki, has split with the prime minister.
The Washington-based Refugees International said the Sadrist movement was operating on a similar model to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a group sponsored by Shi’ite Iran that provides a range of humanitarian services in Lebanon.
“Through a Hezbollah-like scheme, the Shi’ite Sadrist movement has established itself as the main service provider in the country,” said the report.
“This sustainable program provides shelter, food and non-food items to hundreds of thousands of Shi’ites in Iraq.”
Refugees International said it visited many locations inhabited by displaced families throughout Baghdad.
It said that as part of the Sadrist’s assistance programs, the Mehdi Army “resettles” displaced Iraqis free of charge in homes that belong to Sunni Arabs. The militia also provided stipends, food and heating and cooking oil.
“Similarly, other Shi’ite and Sunni groups are gaining ground and support through the delivery of food, oil, electricity, clothes and money to the civilians living in their fiefdoms,” said the report.
“Not only do these militias now have a quasi-monopoly in the large-scale provision of assistance in Iraq, they are also recruiting an increasing number of civilians to their militias — including displaced Iraqis.”
U.S. officials want the Maliki government to erode the influence of the militias. Maliki launched an offensive against the Mehdi Army in the southern city of Basra late last month. Hundreds of people were killed in fighting.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said last month that 2.7 million Iraqis were displaced internally and 2.4 million living as refugees, mainly in Syria and Jordan.
Refugees International accused the Iraqi government of being either “unwilling or unable” to respond to the humanitarian crisis. It also rebuked the international community, saying it was “largely in denial” over the situation.
Analysts expect Iraq’s provincial elections to be the battleground for a bitter power struggle in the Shi’ite south, where the Sadrists and a rival organization, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, are vying for influence.
The council backs Maliki and controls nearly all nine provincial governments in the south. But there is unhappiness at its performance in delivering services, U.S. officials say.
Editing by Richard Balmforth
© 2008 Reuters
America: helping terrorists win the heart’s and mind’s of moderates in third world countries since the 1950’s.
-James
www.thepoliticus.org
The US just disrupts people’s lives, and doesn’t ever provide anything much beyond more bombs, uniforms, police and soldiering. Our government is the real Mafia operating in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Lebanon.
No wonder that close to 9 out of 10 people in the Muslim world distrust the US government. Who are the other 10% then? They are the thugs and elites that ally with our own thugs and elites.
It would appear as if Sadr is taking a cue out of the Hezbollah & Hamas playbook and is doing what the seriously compromised Iraqi government is not: providing services to a needy population. As the recent history of Lebanon & the Gaza Strip has shown, those two organizations were amply rewarded with the populace’s support and were able to vault themselves into serious political power. The only surprise is that it took Sadr this long to adopt this successful strategy that has consistently won hearts and minds in the Middle East.
Who decided to refer to Moqtada al-Sadr as “the Radical Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr?” The US news media, including NPR, always adds the pejorative title. Who enforces this use?
Once upon a time there was a separation of news and opinion pieces. To me this use is unethical. Why and how can the media get away with this?
You’re on a roll there, safiyyah. Please don’t stop. I’m with ya on this. Seriously, let it out. I wanna hear what you’re thinking. I think I need to, despite how wide my eyes are open.
The US mantra
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
And
He who owns the gold, makes up the rules.
The media are guilty of many crimes, because they are controlled by lobby groups and the elite.
There is one common theme, which seems to run through all of the media reporting on Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is Iran’s involvement. Because Sadr has received help from Tehran, and is loved by the Shia majority in Iraq, he is labelled a “radical”. It does not matter to the US that he is immensely popular, because the US hate Iran, and do not want the Mullahs to have any influence in Iraq. President Ahmadinejad was elected, because he vowed to do away with corruption, and improved the infrastructure as Mayor of Tehran. He has also been popular with some, because of his unbowing stance towards the US. When the Ayatollah Khomenei came to power in 1979, diplomatic relations ceased to exist between Iran and the US.
The US will hate anyone who does not perform to their music - Mossadeq, Castro, Chavez - they have all stood up to the US. Following the first Gulf war, Desert Storm, the Shia were let down badly by the US, and the uprising was brutally put down by Sadaam Hussein. In the Iran - Iraq war, Sadaam was backed by the US, and over a million lives were lost in that conflict.
Is it any wonder, that ordinary Arab and Iranian citizens do not trust the US, and would rather follow a local, charismatic leader?
Our politicians have only their own ineptitude to blame, for the current situation.
Great posts…. if only Congress was as wise and the media told the truth.
I am upset at Obama’s flip-flop and criticism of Jimmy Carter’s mission to talk with a Hamas leader and set the stage so there can be a real peaceful settlement.
I am not an Obama maniac now … I am gonna watch close…We’ll see.
The start of a new lobby by A new group of prominent U.S. Jews to counter the Israel lobby’s monopoly on the congress is a good move. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/16/8333/
Holy-moly, what the hell is Sadr trying to do? All our efforts to put down this country, create havoc and keep the entire middle east off balance will be down the drain if he collects enough followers to get us kicked out of IRAQ. I wonder how this is going to be handled by our new president?
This raises the whole issue if Iraqi refugees everywhere. The US government actively discourages ANY assistance for the refugees, especially from concerned US sources. If they allow aid, the Bushcos feel that it would be an admission of responsibility for the suffering.
They also discourage aidng the poor in Lebanon (mostly Shia) victims of Israeli aggression.
Notice a pattern?
Our motto must be “Since we broke it, it must have been the right thing to do, ergo we need to do nothing to fix it.”
instead of “If we break it, we own it (and logically be responsible for fixing”.
And, if anyone tries to fix it, they must be enemies(Sadrists & Hezbollah)
Great country we live in!
Well this is good news to me regarding the Iraqi people. I do think though that it is too little too late. I guess the million dollar question would be: If the “militias” on all sides are pooling their resources together to see to it that the basic necessities of the Iraqi people are generally met, why is this action demonized by the USA Government? I mean…does the USA WANT stability in Iraq?
“I mean…does the USA WANT stability in Iraq?”
Of course not. All the violence there is a huge distraction and weakens any one authority to get it together to take the will of the people into account and tell us to GET OUT.
Besides - when chaos reigns, its so much easier to steal.
The Oil
skeezyks April 17th, 2008 10:50 a.m.: “Who decided to refer to Moqtada al-Sadr as ‘the Radical Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr?’ The US news media, including NPR, always adds the pejorative title. Who enforces this use?”
Right on. I have seen the prefix “the popular . . . “, which certainly seems to have the value of being accurate.
And apparently for good reason.
safiyyah
Did you know?
Did you know that 47 countries have reestablished their Embassies in Iraq?
Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?
Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated?
Did you know that 364 schools are under rehabilitation?
Did you know that 263 new schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been completed in Iraq?
Did you know that Iraq ’s Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?
Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion?
Did you know that Iraq averaged production of 2.4 million barrels of oil per day in November, according to the global energy information firm Platts. That’s nearly a half million more than the post-2003 average. Oil exports, around 1.9 million bpd, fund nearly the entire federal budget!
Did you know that Iraq’s higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all currently operating?
Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January 2005 for the re-established Fulbright program?
Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational? They have 5 - 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.
Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers?
Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks?
Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq ? They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.
Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations?
Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October?
Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%?
Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consists of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?
Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004?
Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a televised debate recently?
OF COURSE WE DIDN’T KNOW! WHY DIDN’T WE KNOW?
BECAUSE OUR MEDIA DOESN’T TELL US!
peace.
I only know what I read in the papers, and I’m nervous about speaking up for someone who is, for the moment at least, being demonized by the Bush administration, especially someone who is currently shooting back at American forces, albeit in self-defense. But I must raise the question of whether Moqtada al-Sadr might not be one of the “good guys,” a strong, spiritual leader whom world opinion should now be ecumenically supporting.
Al-Sadr is apparently a wildly popular leader of the Shiite poor, who, time and again, has demonstrated his commitment to peacefully resisting the overwhelmingly-superior military forces bent upon murdering him. Aside from his courageous refusal to relinquish the ancient homelands of his followers to invaders who would steal and exploit them, and his stubborn unwillingness to be assassinated, what has he done to deserve universal media condemnation and abandonment in the west?
Because al-Sadr’s charismatic leadership is seen by the west’s most powerful leaders as a major barrier to their hegemony in the Middle East, few journalists seem willing to raise this question. Yet several times throughout this conflict, when it has seemed temporarily expedient for the U.S. to leave al-Sadr in peace, he has urged patience and forbearance among his followers even as the wide-scale destruction of his country by foreign occupiers has continued.
Currently, American forces are attacking al-Sadr’s Mahdi army in oil-rich Basra, which is right across the border from Iran. Perhaps Mr. Cheney hopes to provoke just enough Iranian retaliation for this particular aggression to finally justify his own longed-for invasion of Iran’s oil fields? Patriots in Basra and Iran share far more in common with one another than with their American attackers; surely the Iranian government cannot be expected to indefinitely contain the passions of their red-blooded youth, currently standing passively by, watching while their brother-Shiites in Basra are being slaughtered.
Isn’t it time we reconsidered the unquestioned place we have given al-Sadr in our western pantheon of demonized enemies? He is a leader to whom the majority of Shiites in Iraq currently pledge their allegiance, one who has often turned the other cheek even while his beloved followers were being killed. Despite being repeatedly stalked, discredited, attacked, betrayed, and occasionally befriended by President Bush, his millions of followers trust him unreservedly to make their decisions for them. Shouldn’t journalists be speaking out loudly and clearly against the attacks upon him? Who are the bad guys here, and who are the good guys?
How can we expect al-Sadr’s forces to passively turn in their guns when our own country feels free to unilaterally initiate pre-emptive wars, invade, occupy and shoot up foreign country sides and villages and cities, interfere with sovereign nations’ internal affairs, drop nuclear and conventional bombs on civilian populations, disrupt livelihoods and lives, kill innocents, and stockpile armaments enough to end life on earth many times over? Al-Sadr has not invaded America. The reverse has happened.
The Bible does not say “the lamb shall lie down with the lion,” but “the lion shall lie down with the lamb.” In other words, powerful countries must first let their weaker neighbors live in peace. Our own interests, even as citizens of the mega-powerful United States, are served only when our leaders humble themselves to offer good will to all other nations, and treat all our neighbors as we would wish to be treated. It is the traditional moral duty of the military to protect the weak from those who would hurt them, not to push the weak around in order to get whatever a highly unpopular, unresponsive and unrepresentative administration wants when they want it.
All-out war makes sense to me only when people are cornered in their own homes, fighting for survival against overwhelming odds, as al-Sadr’s followers currently seem to be.
More and more people today are recognizing man’s inhumanity to man—whether seen in bulldozed homes, in the shattered bodies of innocent children, or in the maimed and traumatized minds and bodies of young soldiers from every land—exactly for what it is, regardless of context, and despite all the attractive ideological, ethnic, religious, and national colors and flavors violence always comes wrapped in.
Around the world, journalists, activists and average citizens are turning away from the angry diatribes of opportunistic demagogues and ideologues bent upon stirring their fellow-citizens to torture and murder, and instead, embracing the world’s highest universal values: the oneness of all mankind and the sanctity of human life.
Shouldn’t we all be supporting those who are upholding these important values, and resisting the use violent solutions in the present conflict in Iraq?
(Nancy Pace blogs on breaking news at the intersection of politics, peace, culture and spirituality at www.epharmony.com.)
“The start of a new lobby by A new group of prominent U.S. Jews to counter the Israel lobby’s monopoly on the congress is a good move.”
yes, but if the 95% of americans who are not jewish don’t get off their butts and do something about the jewish lobby’s control over “our” politics, that group of “prominent” jews will amount to a hill of beans…
Organizations with both humanitarian and militant wings are fairly common in the world and have achieved some success, with at least one of the Palestinian factions as a rather prominent contemporary example. No doubt there are many more across time/space. The approach is clearly ethical, given the circumstances - a wicked capitalist assault on Iraq intended to steal their natural resources. The capitalists are unable to lift a humanitarian finger. Of course, that would be backtracking. The militant and humanitarian combo seems to make a lot of sense against the onslaught of the capitalist beast, which has only one tool in its tool box - military force - and harbors clear intent to oppress the people. But militarism is only ethical as a defensive ploy against brainless maniacs (capitalists) always with a goal to eliminate militarism ASAP.
A Mr. Callaghan posted this link following his comments on a Common Dreams article a few days ago that dealt with the situation in Iraq/Iran. He stated that the most telling portion of it had been read verbatim by MSNBC’s Keith Olberman on his “Countdown” program.
It was alluded to only once in an early Democratic debate by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (while not making mention of his source as being Common Dreams)
I feel that it is my duty to make as many people as possible aware of this and will therefore be doing so on a daily basis whenever any article appears regarding our continuing military efforts in the region.
I strongly encourage you to read it and then forward it to everyone you know who has an e-mail address, PARTICULARLY anyone you think might be considering voting in November for John McCain.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1028-01.html
RoR - Have you yourself actually seen these items you refer to? Or is this a list put out by contractors?
We may have paid for some or all the improvements you mention but that does not necessarily mean they are up and usable.
Acquaintances returning tell me the last paragraph is closer to the truth. Also since it is so unsafe to venture out of Green Zone, it will be awhile before inspections and confirmations.
Also, BTW Saffiyah is correct in her statements. I met newly arrived refugees in Damascus at New Year’s and their stories confirm Saffiyah’s - not yours.
skeezyks - I think the US news media hasn’t written anything in years. They put all the boilerplate on a tape loop and went home, leaving the machine on automatic. The long form of names in the news is because the people who watch the news forget who these people are, and have to be reminded every time. Slain Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King. Deposed Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega. Radical Shiite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The media is possibly not sophisticated enough to be selling us an agenda. They are more likely just following brainless guidelines, like the lady at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or your HMO physician.
jjpeter - The oil. Yes, keep saying it. Nothing we are seeing makes any sense except for the oil. It’s the goddamn oil.
RoR - Cite your sources and I’ll pass the information along.
For years the U.S. military was multipltying the humanitarian crisis we created in Iraq and the middle east when we infered with the work of the Red Cross, who tried to assist those innocent victims of the war.
We keep hearing Iraqis say, they only have electricity for a few hours a day and other resources are limted to the black markets. This is contrary to what the administration is saying. When they say the building effort is going well, they must mean the green zone. Here we have the US Corp of Engineers patting themselves on the back, lauding their building of a water plant to provide drinking water to thousands of Iraqis. So we sent them an email asking, “We were just wondering, what were hundreds of thousands of Iraqis drinking for thousands of years before the Corp of Engineers arrived? Could it be…….water? They did not respond. What can you say?
SRD
http://www.bccmeteorites.com/misconduct-planetary.html
if all this is true RoR…then we need to get out of their way…AND LEAVE THEIR COUNTRY !!! seems to me we have planted the first seeds of democracy ..SO LET’S LET THE IRAQI’S DEVELOP THERE OWN COUNTRY !!!
“The anti-U.S. movement of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is now Iraq’s main humanitarian organization helping needy Iraqis…”
‘Hearts and Minds’…
[This will increasingly become true for MOST ‘oppositional-groups’ and ‘Enemies’ — they ALL will “look-good” in this ‘Eternal GWofT’, compared to the Imperialist-US/Israel/Britain/etc. — and, why wouldn’t they?]
AND, Why would any-American/’Westerner’ be so dumb as to be ’surprised by this’ negative-comparison??? [Does ANYONE, anywhere, still think we have ‘basically good-intentions’…?]
I’ve been seeing statistics similar to RoR’s for the last five years. If they were true, why would Iraqis turn to Sadr for help? Even the U.S. has recognized the failure of the central government and bypassed it to pay off Sunni insurgents directly. Most of these figures, needless to say, come from the U.S. government, and we all know how honest they are.
When reading though RoR’s long list of advances, I was waiting for a punchline. Alas, it never came.