Today’s The Age (Melbourne) reports surging support for Moqtada al-Sadr among the millions of pilgrims converging on Karbala for the Shia holiday of al-Arbaeen, which it sees as a reprieve before an assault by US forces.
The paper’s Baghdad correspondent Paul McGeough was “staggered” by the numbers supporting Sadr who “is tapping a deep pool of resentment at the occupation”, and surprised by the enthusiasm expressed for his pursuit of an alliance with the Sunnis. (He deems the latter “improbable” and “Machiavellian” - a common prejudice of foreign observers, promoted by occupation authorities, that outside intercession is needed to keep the two communities from fighting with each other like squabbling children.) McGeough cites among the examples of cooperation combined Shia-Sunni military operations and a joint meeting “with Palestinians offering guidance on how to run a long-term resistance campaign.” A companion piece by the Age’s Washington correspondent Marian Wilkinson suggests the US moved against Sadr because of his approaches to the Sunni clerics, but that it is trying to defuse the uprising through the UN. Articles posted on www.supportingfacts.com Sorry for any cross posting.
