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AFP/File Photo: Iraqi shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr speaks at a mosque in Kufa, 2006. Al-Sadr said he...
Iraq's Sadr plans new armed group to fight US forces
by Hassan Abdul Zahra Fri Jun 13, 7:26 AM ET
KUFA, Iraq (AFP) -
Iraq's hardline Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr announced on Friday that he plans to form a new armed group to fight US forces in Iraq.
n a statement issued to his nearly 60,000 strong Mahdi Army militia,
the anti-American cleric said the fight against US forces will now be
waged only by the new group.
"The resistance will be carried out exclusively by a special group
which I will announce later," Sadr said in a statement which was read
out at a mosque in the holy Shiite town of Kufa.
"We will keep resisting the occupier until the liberation (of Iraq) or (our) martrydom."
Sadr said the group will direct its operations against US forces and will be banned from fighting Iraqis.
"This group will be professional and it will be the only group carrying
arms which will be directed against the occupier. It will be banned
from using arms against any Iraqis."
Sadr's Mahdi Army has regularly clashed with US forces since the March 2003 invasion that toppled the Sunni-led regime of Saddam Hussein.
In 2004, Sadr led two rebellions against American troops from the holy
city of Najaf which saw hundreds of his militiamen killed.
Last year in August he suspended Mahdi Army activities after allegations his fighters were engaged in a bloody battle in the Shiite city of Karbala during a major festival.
Since then, the Sadr group maintains that the militia has not broken
the ceasefire but his fighters were involved in battles against US and
Iraqi troops that erupted in late March in Baghdad and other Shiite
regions.
Hundreds of people were killed in the clashes which broke out after premier Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shiite militias.
The US military had repeately accused the Mahdi Army, which is mainly dominant in Baghdad's impoverished Sadr City district, of killing Sunni Arabs during Iraq's vicious sectarian conflict.
But since Sadr declared the ceasefire, the military has stopped accusing the militia directly.
It often claims that certain members of the militia who do not follow
the cleric's orders continue to indulge in criminal activities.
The military also alleges that these fighters are being trained, armed and funded by Iranian groups, charges denied by Tehran.
Sadam had nothing to do with 9/11. Who said he did? There were three legitimate reasons for deposing him as I see it:
1. He & his sons were ruthless murderers of their own citizens - you know, indulging in the sort of inhumanity the Left always complains we aren't doing enough to stop until we actually step in to stop it. Then we're sticking out nose in other people's business.
2. Violating "no fly" sanctions and other treaty and U.N. sanctions.
3. Persuing nuclear weapons. Though no weapons were found Sadam brought war upon himself by denying U.N. inspectors access to suspected facilities.
I know there's nothing I can say to dissuade you from your 9/11 conspiracy thing. To me it's just depressing that good minds can be so easily bent. That is not to say that I don't respect your views on many other topics. Thankfully we all have the ability to compartmentlize our issues.