United States Picking a Fight with Iraq's Shi'ites
lewrockwell: Recent efforts by President Bush to challenge the nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari and an attack by U.S. soldiers in Iraq on a Shi'ite mosque has created great controversy in Iraq. Divisions between the United States and Shi'ite leadership are growing at the same time that U.S. rhetoric on the Shi'ite-dominated Iran are growing.
The U.S. mosque raid resulted in the deaths of 21 unarmed worshippers and an imam, most believed to be tied to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The mosque was part of Shi'ite community center and shrine. The U.S. reports at least 16 were dead and denies they were unarmed.
U.S. News and World Report is reporting that: "The U.S. military was trying to send a 'little reality jab' to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr when American and Iraqi troops raided a Shi'ite community center and shrine over the weekend, says a top U.S. military official."
The raid has been very controversial. The governor of Baghdad cut off cooperation with the United States and Shi'ite politicians suspended their work on forming a government. President Jalal Talabani demanded that those "responsible" be punished and launched an investigation. While the U.S. had been critical of Sadr at times, lately they have been praising him because of his calls for calm in the wake of the bombing of a Sunni mosque in Samarra that sparked a wave of sectarian violence.
General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responding to criticism over the controversial raid, acknowledged that the raid included a mosque but claims U.S. forces did not know that until after the raid.
On March 29, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Bush administration notified the leading Shi'ite Muslim alliance that it opposes the nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari for another term in office. Jafari is a Shi'ite religious scholar with close ties to Iran. He has been criticized for allowing Shi'ite sectarian militias to operate death squads within the police force.
On Saturday U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad delivered a "personal message" from President Bush to Abdelaziz Hakim, the Shi'ite alliance leader, and asked that it be relayed to Jafari. The Los Angeles Times reports that Shi'ite politician close to the prime minister, Haider Abadi, said "It is not a friendly message. The ambassador is creating an atmosphere of rejection against Dr. Jafari by saying the United States cannot work with him. That only discourages the Sunnis and other political factions from being open to compromise." Read more
The U.S. mosque raid resulted in the deaths of 21 unarmed worshippers and an imam, most believed to be tied to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The mosque was part of Shi'ite community center and shrine. The U.S. reports at least 16 were dead and denies they were unarmed.
U.S. News and World Report is reporting that: "The U.S. military was trying to send a 'little reality jab' to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr when American and Iraqi troops raided a Shi'ite community center and shrine over the weekend, says a top U.S. military official."
The raid has been very controversial. The governor of Baghdad cut off cooperation with the United States and Shi'ite politicians suspended their work on forming a government. President Jalal Talabani demanded that those "responsible" be punished and launched an investigation. While the U.S. had been critical of Sadr at times, lately they have been praising him because of his calls for calm in the wake of the bombing of a Sunni mosque in Samarra that sparked a wave of sectarian violence.
General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responding to criticism over the controversial raid, acknowledged that the raid included a mosque but claims U.S. forces did not know that until after the raid.
On March 29, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Bush administration notified the leading Shi'ite Muslim alliance that it opposes the nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari for another term in office. Jafari is a Shi'ite religious scholar with close ties to Iran. He has been criticized for allowing Shi'ite sectarian militias to operate death squads within the police force.
On Saturday U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad delivered a "personal message" from President Bush to Abdelaziz Hakim, the Shi'ite alliance leader, and asked that it be relayed to Jafari. The Los Angeles Times reports that Shi'ite politician close to the prime minister, Haider Abadi, said "It is not a friendly message. The ambassador is creating an atmosphere of rejection against Dr. Jafari by saying the United States cannot work with him. That only discourages the Sunnis and other political factions from being open to compromise." Read more
posted by exoplanet at 7:18 PM
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