Aides also said that Mr. al-Sadr would enter his movement into Iraq's political process, but they gave no details of the plan.
Better to have someone you can outvote than one you have to shoot.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Embracing reality
To answer why Sadr wasn't arrested or shot. "Radical Iraqi Cleric Calls for Nationwide Cease-Fire."
Better to have someone you can outvote than one you have to shoot.
Better to have someone you can outvote than one you have to shoot.
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2 comments:
I think the best book out there to really get a feel for why we and the Iraqi leadership make some of the decisions we do is The Secret War in Iraq by Youseff Ibrahim. I listened to him on the radio as I drove through Pennsylvania last week. I stopped at a Border's before I went to the airport and picked up the book. I spent my time in the cafe leafing through it, and one thing that really struck me is how deep Iran appears to be in all of this. By the sounds of it, they are just looking for a reason to stir up Shi'ites. If they can arrange a Shia takeover of power in Iraq, it may very well end up as a puppet to Iran, and it would give Iran a lot of power over the belt of the Middle East. al Sadr seems to have a certain invulnerability because he's popular with the lower classes, and there is a fear that making him into a martyr could play into Iran's hands. This is also why we were willing to work former Ba'athists into the new government. It was a check against a complete Shia take over.
I wish I could say I bought it and finished the book, but I went with something else. What I read and what I listened to on the radio was somewhat alarming, though.
Thanks. I will pick up the book. It sounds like something I would enjoy.
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