Posted on 11/29/2008 12:59:09 PM PST by WilliamReading
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq's influential Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has reservations about a pact allowing U.S. troops to stay for three more years, but politicians must decide its value, a source said on Saturday.
Iraq's parliament passed a law approving the long-awaited security pact on Thursday, paving the way for U.S. forces to withdraw by the end of 2011 and taking the country a step closer to full sovereignty. They agreed it should be put to a national referendum by the end of July next year.
The revered cleric's acceptance of the pact is crucial for it to be accepted by Iraq's mostly Shi'ite population, many of whom are at best ambivalent about the continuing presence of U.S. troops on their soil.
"In this agreement there are unsatisfactory things ... Therefore he declares his reservations. His reservations do not mean rejection, but neither does that mean absolute acceptance," a source close to Sistani's office told Reuters.
Sistani had signaled the week before the vote that he would abstain from judging the pact and leave it to lawmakers to decide its fate, on two conditions: that it does not violate Iraq's sovereignty and that it gets consensus from all of its communities. Shi'ites have eagerly awaited his final verdict.
The source said Sistani would not make public which parts of the pact he had concerns about. But he said Sistani wanted politicians to decide "whether the positive aspects outweigh the negative."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Sistani is a real snake in the grass. He refuses to talk to any American officials or commanders. Yet he is the most beloved Imam of them all.
I can’t help feeling that GWB has been played by the Iraqis. I can’t say I will miss GWB. No, not at all.
Let’s go. The Shiites want to persecute the Sunnis into the ground, payback for past misdeeds.. What do we care?
Just a simple thank you would suffice. Just a thank you for all the blood and treasure that has been spilled “freeing” the Iraqis.
Who are we going to free next?
He doesn’t really talk to anyone but his close pals. The rest of the time he writes answers for publication on anal sex and other questions his followers have.
No joke.
And then we get this fiasco for the last 8 years. . As dumb as a box of rocks, that dude is.
“Who are we going to free next?”
Personally I would like to free the Venezuelans.
rooters
WE could have freed 10 Cubas for all the blood and money we spent on the Iraqis. And the Iraqis do not like the Americans, when are people going to wake up? GWB has been feeding us a fairy tale .
Let’s free Communist China, that will be more of a challenge.
Seeing as how Sadr’s nasty thugs have begun launching things into the Green Zone again, perhaps Sistani should redirect his concerns.
Oh, and I could totally dig working there on that effort. :)
Freeing Iraq was a brilliant move and it's working. Most Iraqis are VERY appreciative. The media seeks out the few who aren't and misrepresents them as the voice of the Iraqi people.
Please don't fall for this media crap. So what if Sistani has concerns - if he even really does? Notice the complete lack of specificity on that.
Looking forward to Obama, are you?
Hope you enjoy Obama.
I am curious as to what people with your mindset regarding Iraq believe might have been different the last several years had we not went into Iraq?
And, I understand the US money and lives that would have been saved. I’m asking as to world events.
Of course, even the US money/lives issue might be up for grabs if we ended up facing the terrorists on our home court.
I believe so. Last night he posted on some thread that Obama was right and President Bush was wrong on Iraq...
With all due respect, that's a huge, steaming, media-induced load of horse crap.
Yep, I just found it.
Trolls getting a little bolder since that travesty of an election?
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