Axis of Evil, meet The Evil Trio

Re: Axis of Evil, meet The Evil Trio


It is doubtful. Sadr's appeal is largely to young, angry Shi'ites, and rests upon his alleged credentials as the leader of the Mahdi Army. As such, he is simply the most visible of the militia leaders. He has always traded upon the religious credentials of his father, but possesses no such credentials himself. Many Shi'ites, especially Shi'ite religious leaders, don't trust him. His only agenda is his own personal agrandizement, and Iraqis are as intelligent as anyone else about these things--you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.

Look around online and read some biographies of Sadr--his lunge for power and legitimacy among Shi'ites immediately after the American invasion petered out, so he lead the so-called Mahdi Army into Najaf and instigated insurrection there and in Basra, and to a lesser extent in Baghdad. He failed of his object to capture political control of the Shi'ites of Iraq, although he helped to precipitate wide-spread insurrection among both Sunnis and Shi'ites. Eventually, he negotiated yet another deal to escape arrest, and promptly violated the terms of that deal, as he had all others.

He long "wasted" his efforts in the south of Iraq, where resentment against English troops was not as great as against Americans, and where the Shi'ite majority were not threatened by Sunni insurrectionists as they are in Baghdad. That made him irrelevant, not simply in terms of the international press, but among Shi'ites, as well. He's now trying to push himself once again to the fore of the Iraqi Shi'ties. I doubt that he'll succeed any more than he did in the past. He is young, and rather stupid politically. His rhetoric is reminiscent of the rage of radical college students (whether conservative or liberal) which usually has little relation to political realities. So far, Iraqi Shi'ites have not shown that much of an inclination to treat him seriously, apart from the hot-heads who have joined the Mahdi Army.

I agree with Set. Might be that he gets a little bit more support now and then, but only temporarily, I think.

From the news by blomberg

Thanks for that summary, Set. Clear and thorough as usual.

No problem, FD. Keep in mind, though, that simply because Sadr is unlikely to attain his own personal political goals is not a reason to dismiss him as irrelevant in the larger picture. His insurrection at Najaf with the so-called Mahdi Army was a miserable failure politically as well as militarily. But it was still important because it spread to Basra and the Sadr City district of Baghdad, and it inspired to a great extent the Sunni insurrection.

A fool can still be a dangerous fool.

You don't need to tell me... (looks toward the white house).

Please explain the title of this thread.