Hank Roth
Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:58:59 -0700
http://pnews.org/ - http://up-yours.us Progressive (Post-Liberal) News & Views (since 1982) Neither Left nor Right - Seeking Truth and Justice ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Why are American's dying for Iraq when the same Iraqis we're in Iraq on
this mission to save them from Saddam Hussein's secular extremism if they
are now going to try to kill Jews with Hezbollah? This is another reason
to get the hell out of Iraq and recognize that this is a war against a
culture; not a man or a country. What difference whether Syrians, Iranians
or Iraqis? It is all the same. And this is World War III. Israel is
fighting a proxy war with Islam and they are on the front lines. I'll ask
again: Where are the moderate Muslims? You know the ones who really want
to inhabitate this planet with us and respect our right to not be them.
H
Iraqi Shi'ite militia ready to join fight
By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 24, 2006
A senior member of Muqtada al-Sadr's Iraqi Shi'ite militia, the Mahdi
Army, says the group is forming a squadron of up to 1,500 elite fighters
to go to Lebanon.
The plan reflects the potential of the fighting between Israel and
Hezbollah to strengthen radical elements in Iraq and neighboring countries
and to draw other regional players into the Lebanon conflict.
"We are choosing the men right now," said Abu Mujtaba, who works in
the loosely organized following of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
"We are preparing the right men for the job."
Mr. Mujtaba, who was interviewed in Baghdad, said some of the men have
had special training but did not specify what kind.
Sheik al-Sadr's black-clad armed militia numbers in the thousands,
operates throughout central and southern Iraq and is thought to be
responsible for numerous killings of Sunnis.
A rival Sunni cleric, Abdul Rahman al-Duleimi, said he knew about the
militia's recruiting effort and that he had appealed to his own followers
to fight Israel.
"We know that the Mahdi militia is on this issue since the
Lebanon-Israeli crisis started," said Sheik al-Duleimi, whose house in
Baghdad contains a large portrait of former ruler Saddam Hussein. The
cleric is not related to Adnan al-Dulaimi, also a Sunni cleric and leader
of a major faction in parliament.
Sheik al-Duleimi said that during prayers on Friday, he "called the
people to volunteer, and if they cannot, they should donate anything. I
called on people to donate even one bullet, because maybe this one bullet
will kill one Israeli."
Government officials said they knew nothing of the Mahdi militia's
plans, although Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has condemned Israel's
assault on Lebanon and said he will discuss it with President Bush during
a scheduled visit to the White House tomorrow.
"The hostile acts against Lebanon will have effects on the region, and
we are not far from what is going on in Lebanon," Mr. al-Maliki said
Saturday. "We will speak to the United Nations and American government to
call for a cease-fire quickly."
Iraq's national security adviser, Mowafaq al-Rubaie, said he had not
heard of any Iraqis planning to go to Lebanon, "and if I had heard it, I
don't have a comment."
Mr. Mujtaba shrugged off the government reaction, saying the Mahdi
militia has been keeping its moves quiet until it has everything ready.
"If some politicians or Iraqis laugh at us, I think the coming days
will prove these reports and we will see who is defending Islam to prove
he is a Muslim and who is not," he said.
Other Shi'ite groups in Baghdad are rumored to be gathering donations
to help the Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, where the Islamist group has
come under fierce attack since kidnapping two Israeli soldiers on July 12.
Sheik al-Sadr has openly voiced support for Iran -- Hezbollah's main
sponsor -- and on Friday urged Iraqis to stand behind Lebanon to confront
the "common enemy," Israel.
"We say no, a thousand nos to Israel and its terrorism, and everybody
should know that we in Iraq will not stay quiet against the rampaging
Zionists," Agence France-Presse quoted Sheik al-Sadr as saying in a
statement issued from his home in the southern Shi'ite holy city of Najaf.
Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies said that the Mahdi militia's claim to be sending a force to
Lebanon could be exaggerated, but that Sheik al-Sadr stood to gain a lot
by sending volunteers to help Hezbollah.
"He shows he is a fighter for the Arab cause at a time when the Iraqi
government cannot, which gives him support at the local level in Iraq and
makes him into a regional rather than a local figure, even if it isn't
real," he said.
"He gains power and status as a person seen as willing to take such
risks," Mr. Cordesman said.
Mr. Mujtaba said the Mahdi militia was figuring out how to get its
fighters to Lebanon without the help of the Iraqi government.
"People have volunteered ... but as this is not the government, we
cannot use planes. We need to go by land," he said.
The most direct land route would be across Iraq's western Anbar
province to Jordan or Syria. Because of border restrictions, Jordan would
be an unlikely crossing point, Iraqis said. Syria is an important backer
of Hezbollah but may not want to be seen as helping Mahdi militia fighters
reach Lebanon.
Sheik al-Duleimi said the fight in Lebanon extends beyond the
Israel-Hezbollah conflict, and that it is a struggle between Muslims and
the American-Israeli alliance.
"This is a must-do, to show all the Arabs that Iraq is still
standing," said the Sunni cleric.
"And the other reason is we want to extend the fighting range so they
will know Lebanon is not just one country and Iraq is not just one
country, it is Muslims from all over the world," he said.
"I have ex-officers and young college students and workers who
volunteer, and I think if you come to the next Friday prayers you will
find more supporters and donations."
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