Aide: Cleric's credibility hurt (anti-coalition shia radical al-Sadr losing followers)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --An aide to a Shiite Muslim leader acknowledged Thursday that deadly clashes with a rival faction were a mistake and that an attempt to form a rival government in Iraq cost the cleric's movement both supporters and credibility.

Good pic captions, Stultis.

This Cleric complains about L. Paul Bremer after Saddam Hussein?

A few of the changes brought to Iraq under Amb. Bremer's 'reign':

The Coalition has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of our strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq....

Six months ago there was no freedom of expression. Satellite dishes were illegal. Foreign journalists came on 10-day visas and paid mandatory and extortionate fees to the Ministry of Information for “minders” and other government spies.

· Today there is no Ministry of Information.

· Today there are more than 170 newspapers.

· Today you can buy satellite dishes on what seems like every street corner.

· Today foreign journalists and everyone else are free to come and go.

Six months ago Iraq had not one single element—legislative, judicial or executive-- of a representative government.

· Today in Baghdad alone residents have selected 88 advisory councils. Baghdad’s first democratic transfer of power in 35 years happened when the city council elected its new chairman.

· Today in Iraq chambers of commerce, business, school and professional organizations are electing their leaders all over the country.

· Today 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in Iraq’s history, run the day-to-day business of government.

· Today the Iraqi government regularly participates in international events. Since July the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen international meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the Arab League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference Summit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is reopening over 30 Iraqi embassies around the world.

Six months ago Shia religious festivals were all but banned.

· Today, for the first time in 35 years, in Karbala thousands of Shiites celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12^th Imam.

8 CPA Administrator Press Conference 10/9 [6 mo. anniv. of Bagdhad Liberation Day. Detailed PROGRESS.]

Some additional paragraphs I found in another iteration of this AP story:

U.S. authorities have been reluctant to move against al-Sadr for several reasons, including being uncertain about how much of a threat the young cleric and his followers pose. "It's not clear for whom al-Sadr purports to be speaking, and what kind of a following he may or may not have," Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita said Tuesday.
Arresting al-Sadr could have the unwanted effect of increasing his popularity among members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority who are frustrated with the U.S.-led occupation, officials said. Any violence prompted by American action could be a setback for the Bush administration's efforts to portray the situation in Iraq as steadily improving.
U.S. officials want to act in a way that minimizes loss of life and prevents any unnecessary deterioration of the situation, another defense official said Wednesday. Yet they feel they must indicate no one is above the U.S.-administered law in Iraq, that second official said.
Al-Sadr appears to draw his followers mainly from young and poverty-stricken Shiites in places like Sadr City, a slum-ridden section of Baghdad named after the cleric's father, who was shot to death during Saddam's rule.
Pentagon officials said they also are unsure how many men belong to al-Sadr's militia, the Imam al-Mahdi Army, and how well armed the group is.

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