Posted on 08/13/2004 7:32:38 AM PDT by saquin
NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - Shiite Muslim rebel leader Moqtada Sadr issued a list of conditions for an end to more than a week of deadly clashes between his militia and US troops and Iraqi forces, a spokesmen said.
The conditions were spelled out at a news conference at a hotel in the besieged holy city of Najaf by Sheikh Ali Sumeisim.
If all multinational forces, Iraqi police and soldiers leave Najaf and the Marjayia, or religious authority, agrees to take responsibility for the city, "the Mehdi Army would pull out from Najaf," Sumeisim said.
All basic services must be restored, Sadr's Mehdi Army recognised as an ideological movement and its members allowed to carry weapons for self-defence, Sumeisim continued.
Those jailed for supporting the resistance, all imprisoned clerics and women must also be released from prison, the spokesman added.
A nonstarted, especially the arms, a PR Ploy for the Shias, even worldwide, a kabuki dance before the final kill.
I hope.
Just setting the ground so no blame falls on America or Allawi for wiping him out.
Since he spurned Allawi's offer of a role in politics, this is just to show how benevolent Allawi was before tking him out.
Here is another view put forth by Jim Bohannon a while back.
While it is true we gave up South Vietnam, we might say that Vietnam was not the real war, but a battle in the larger war that was costly to the winner, a Pyrrhic victory. Vietnam was the end of the march of Communism. That was the real war, and it was a win. That being said, Vietnam could have been won and the war in Vietnam over in any three weeks if the puppet masters in Washington had wanted to go all out and finish it.
"Roger that...the weapon is hot...FOX THREE!"
AMEN
I have been a die-hard Cardinal fan since 1967, and I am enjoying the 2004 NL Central race more than any since I have
been following the Cards.
I grew up in Michigan across the lake from Chicago.I have seen (and this is a VERY conservative #)at least 50 games in
Wrigley, (before I moved to FL)and I dressed in FULL Cardinal "gear" EVERY TIME, even if the cubs weren't playing the Cards.
kerry "claims" to be brave ?? I'd like to see how he'd "perform" dressed in Cardinal Red at a game in Wrigley.
.....he'd probably attend a White Sox game, but it would be "seared....SEARED, into his mind" that he was at Wrigley....
I'm in complete agreement with Jim Bohannons viewpoint.
"kerry "claims" to be brave ?? I'd like to see how he'd "perform" dressed in Cardinal Red at a game in Wrigley."
LOL.........good one
LOL..
Rush just used your line :)
This punk isn't in a position to set conditions for anything. The country he lives in has been militarily defeated, and the sooner he realizes that, the better.
one word. MOAB!!!
Iraqi Shi'ite youths approach the Imam Ali shrine after marching from the nearby town of Kufa, to show their support to militiamen in Najaf, August 13, 2004. Iraq's interim government said Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was negotiating to leave a shrine in Najaf on Friday as thousands of protesters across southern Iraq condemned the latest U.S. offensive. REUTERS/Akram Saleh
British journalist James Brandon (C, seated) is driven to an Iraqi police station in Basra, August 13, 2004. Gunmen kidnapped Brandon in the southern city of Basra, threatening to execute him within 24 hours if U.S. forces did not pull out of Najaf, but the Sunday Telegraph reporter was later released after al-Sadr intervened. QUALITY FROM SOURCE REUTERS/Atef Hassan
British journalist James Brandon arrives at the Basra offices of radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr, August 13, 2004. Gunmen kidnapped Brandon in the southern city of Basra, threatening to execute him within 24 hours if U.S. forces did not pull out of Najaf, but the Sunday Telegraph reporter was later released after al-Sadr intervened. REUTERS/Atef Hassan
A picture showing alleged Egyptian hostage in Iraq Mohammed Fawzi Abdaal Mutwalli released by his family in Egypt. An Islamic Web site posted still pictures Friday Aug. 13, 2004, that purportedly showed Iraqi militants beheading Mohammed, who they claimed was spying for the U.S. military. (AP Photo/HO)
An armed elderly Iraqi militiaman stands guard outside the sacred shrine of Imam Ali in the southern city of Najaf, August 13, 2004. Iraq's interim government said Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was negotiating to leave a shrine in Najaf on Friday as thousands of protesters across southern Iraq condemned a U.S. offensive in the holy city. REUTERS/Akram Saleh
An elderly Iraqi woman holds a rifle while posing with militiamen during a demonstration in the southern city of Najaf, August 13, 2004. Mass protests against the U.S. assault on the sacred Shi'ite Muslim city of Najaf broke out in five Iraqi cities on Friday, with some demonstrators calling for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to step down. REUTERS/Akram Saleh
American troops stand guard as the charred remains of a vehicle allegedly belonging to the Fiji delegation of the multinational force is towed near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul where it was attacked, Friday Aug. 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ibrahimi)
Thousands of al-Sadr supporters walk across the Tigris river as they gather to take part in a demonstration outside the Green Zone, the fortified enclave housing most Iraqi government ministries, as well as the U.S. and British embassies in central Baghdad, IraqFriday Aug. 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)
Iraqi civilians pray during a demonstration where thousands of al-Sadr supporters gathered outside the Green Zone, the fortified enclave housing most Iraqi government ministries, as well as the U.S. and British embassies in central Baghdad, Iraq Friday Aug. 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A U.S. soldier watches over the area after raiding the southern city of Najaf, August 13, 2004. U.S. Marines backed by aircraft and tanks captured the Najaf city center in a massive attack against the Mehdi Army on Thursday. REUTERS/Akram Saleh
blah blah blah... military comanders... blah blah blah???
by and large our military commanders, and our national leadership, have both made and kept our Nation NUMBER ONE on the planet... for the last fifty or sixty years...
you don't like our guys in the field running the show?
prefer somebody else's type of military and political leadership were calling the shots?
we are number one for a reason.
one is we let them do their jobs.
I want the effer dead WORSE than you.
but if our leaderhip and military commanders think their is advantage for some reason, by letting up? SO BE IT. THey are on the scene, they took Iraq initially in about a week... I trust them. You should too.
Sadr is toast eventually either way.
But most likely by IRAQI hands.
Democratic Iraqi hands.
that's good for arabs to see REGIONALLY... not just Iraqis.
some folks around here don't get it.
we don't have a pretend "iraq".
they are not our sock puppets.
WE are the attack dogs.
Allawi is the one holding the leash and using our "expertise" aka kicking ass... to build democracy... and face down the wack jobs.
When we are finished, or tired of doing the job (belieiving the iraqis can handle their own criminal element and foreign invasion problems) we will move on.
some folks are looking to see if we back down, or if iraq is a puppet of ours. it's not. this is the proof. arabs can see it. arabs and islamists everywhere. Whatever we need to do, even if it IS PC, we ought to do, to make sure we leave Iraq a sovereign national democracy.
and we will.
that being said... I want the sadr to get "justice"
so do the iraqis.
and he will get "it."
in due time.
Let me repeat: what is your strategic plan to deal with the situation once the Allawi government collapses and the south secedes after we level the Shrine of Ali and other mosques?
If they use the Mosque as a staging ground for attacks, it should be attacked and flattened
And your plan to deal with the consequent fall of the the Allawi government and the secession of the south which will come after the shrine is leveled is....?
Ask a serious and specific question and get a joke. Why did I even bother?
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