Sunday, January 26, 2020

Moqtada struggles with leadership

Moqtada al-Sadr used to dart in and out of Iraq.  He'd flee to Iran regularly.  This was often a smart move since an arrest warrant existed for Moqtada and the US hoped to execute it.  Moqtada used his time in Iran to continue his studies (also to work as a hotel clerk, if rumors are to be believed).  He's a Shi'ite cleric.  When he began returning to Iraq in the '10s, he would usually call a protest to demonstrate his power.  He has often claimed to be a champion of the Iraqi people.  In 2010, for example, he asked them who they wanted to be prime minister.  The March 2010 elections saw the Iraqi people supporting Ayad Allawi and his Iraqiya party but sitting prime minister Nouri al-Maliki refused to step down.  Nouri, a US puppet, and Moqtada did not get along -- to put it mildly.  Moqtada grand-standed that he would hold a referendum and then abide by the results.  But then the Iranian government pressured him and Moqtada backed Nouri -- who the people voting in his referendum did not want.

Starts-and-stops like this happened repeatedly and Moqtada's supporters were largely Shi'ite -- and only a small portion of the Shi'ite population.

In 2012, he took a brave stand against Nouri and he began to be seen as something more than just a Shi'ite cleric, he was seen by many as a movement leader and his appeal increased among Shi'ites and non-Shi'ites.

When the ongoing protests began last fall, Moqtada gave them his blessings and backing.  They were protected by him.  Friday, he staged a march.  He bussed in supporters to Baghdad.  The protesters who had been protesting for months were not pleased by the attempt to divert attention.  Moqtada may have been miffed by that reaction -- and by the protesters refusal to become marchers -- because he announced Friday night that he was withdrawing his support.

Since he withdrew his support, the violence aimed at the protesters by security forces has increased.  Mohammed Tawfeeq and Raja Razek (CNN) report:
Twelve people were killed and 230 others injured in protests in Iraq over the past three days, the Independent High Commission for Human Rights of Iraq said Sunday.
Nine protesters were killed in the capital Baghdad and three others in the southern city of Nasiriyah, about 350 km south of Baghdad, according to the statement.
More than 600 people have been killed in anti-government demonstrations that started in October, according to the IHCHR and Amnesty International.
Dozens of Iraqi security forces used live ammunition and tear gas as they worked to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters in al-Khalani Square, Baghdad, on Saturday, according to activists in the area.
Activists said the aggressive move came after Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced in a statement Friday night that he would no longer support anti-government protesters.



ALJAZEERA adds:
Leading Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr had called for demonstrations against the US in Baghdad and other cities on Sunday but cancelled them with his office giving "avoiding internal strife" as the reason.
Sadr, who has millions of supporters in Baghdad and the south, said on Saturday he would end his involvement in the anti-government unrest.
Sadr's supporters have bolstered the protesters and at times helped shield them from attacks by security forces and unidentified gunmen, but began withdrawing from sit-in camps on Saturday following his announcement.
Jason Ditz (ANTIWAR.COM) tries to nail down Moqtada's ever changing positions.
  1.  7 hours ago
    Replying to 
    The government, the militias of Iran, and Moqtada al-Sadr take revenge on the peaceful demonstrators for failing to quell the demonstrations. When does the world get involved? Or are they still looking for bargains and contracts with this militia government?
     
     


  1.  7 hours ago
    Nasiriyah now burns the demonstrators' tents at the hands of the militias, all this because of Moqtada al-Sadr’s loss of demonstrations and his threat to the protesters today
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  2.  10 hours ago
    AFP: With Moqtada al-Sadr having pulled his followers out of Iraq's protest camps, the uprising has lost its best-organized element and risks intensified persecution.
    8 retweets4 likes
     
     
  3.  10 hours ago
    Replying to 
    This info-graphic need update, there are a lot of missing characters in it. In particular Moqtada al-Sadr, Abu alaa al-walai, Abu Zainab Al-Lami and more. All of them i wish them nice trip near Baghdad air port.
    5 likes
     
     


  1.  7 hours ago
    This is crazy! Watch the heave gun fire toward the unarmed protesters sleeping in their tents in Nasriyah! The Iraqi government is either part of this quelling plan or has lost control to the militias.
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    102 replies583 retweets2,370 likes
     
     
  2.  7 hours ago
    Breaking: armed gunmen in trucks(Militia style attack) attacked the protesters in Nasriyah and fired their weapons in an indiscriminate way around the city
    58 replies263 retweets1,138 likes
     
     
  3.  7 hours ago
    Protesters were inside their tents when armed men attacked them and fired non stop from their pickup trucks prior to torching the tents in Nasriyah’s Habobi Square, this is bizarre and shows the brutal crack down protesters are facing since October in
    118 replies642 retweets1,933 likes
     
     
  4.  8 hours ago
    The sounds of gun shots and whatever is being used against unarmed protesters in Nasriyah right now is painful to hear.
    44 replies177 retweets1,000 likes
     
     
  5.  8 hours ago
    Breaking: an attack is ongoing against protesters in Habobi square , Nasriyah
    48 replies295 retweets1,165 likes
     
     


The protester are suffering.  Moqtada?  He's suffering as well.

He was a movement leader.  If all he has is the people in Sadr City (a section of Baghdad) and a few in Basra, he's as popular as any militia leader but not a movement leader.  He made a foolish mistake and whether he's able to correct it or not remains to be seen.

In other news, Chad Garland (STARS AND STRIPES) reports:

 A rocket attack on the heavily fortified Baghdad Green Zone on Sunday hit the U.S. Embassy, drawing condemnation from Iraq’s acting prime minister, who said such acts threaten to drag the country into a new conflict.
Five rockets fell onto the international zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, but left no casualties, the Iraqi government’s security media cell said in an online statement. Of those, an unspecified number hit inside the U.S. Embassy compound, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said in an online statement.


REUTERS notes, "Security sources told Reuters that at least one rocket landed inside the U.S. embassy compound and wounded three people. If confirmed, it would be the first time in years that such attacks on the Green Zone, which are regular, have actually hurt staff there." Hillary Clinton's friend Hoshyar Zebari has weighed in:


  •  11 hours ago
    The compound of in received a direct rockets hit by unruly militia. The Embassy restaurant or canteen was damaged and burned. This is a very dangerous game by uncontrolled factions to galvanize the tense situation. It must stop.
    66 replies376 retweets605 likes
     
     
  •  12 hours ago
    The unruly militia are at it again tonight. 5 rockets are fired on & compound.More precise but no casualties.
    25 replies63 retweets108 likes
     
     



    • Zebari is a Kurd.  He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for nearly eleven years -- including the four years Hillary was Secretary of State.  Zebari was the Iraqi closest to Hillary -- the two had a strong working relationship.  After he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he went on to other positions.  His final position was as Minister of Finance.  He was 'retired' from that position in the midst of corruption charges and after a no-confidence vote took place in the Parliament.


    The following sites updated:





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