Democrats

Sadaam Hussein Or Moqtadr al Sadr, Pick Your Poison

October 6, 2006 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅  Print Article ⋅ Post a comment

We abolished Sadaam Hussein and replaced him with a shattered form of government. However, a more distinct question to be asked is ‘did we replace a vicious dictator to free a country or did we just do the dirty work of the Iranian government who now has Moqtadr al Sadr in power enforcing Iranian influence from the dark shadows of Sadr city? You can try and deny it all you want but al Sadr is very anti-American and very influential in Sadr City. The fiery cleric also has a lot of pull over a large part of the Shiite government in Iraq and he has not been reluctant to let Iraqi’s know that he believes he is the new power broker of Iraq. Is he right?

You must consider the fact that although both Iraqi and A merican officials have declared that all militias be disarmed al Sadrs’ has not. Most say al Sadr is the one who is both protecting and promoting sectarian violence in Iraq, is this true? Most believe it is. Matter of fact the majority of hospitals in large parts of Iraq are being run by Shiite death squads and story upon stories are emerging of how Shiite individuals are killing Sunni Arabs who come to hospitals seeking medical attention. How low can it go? It appears Iraq is a bottom-less pit and the free falling has just begun.

Sadr City is one of the few cities that flaunts the evening curfew law with no concern for punishment. Sadr City is controlled by the Mehdi army and as long as you conform to their will you have nothing to worry about. However, if you are not with them you are considered to be against them and this is a death sentence of the most horrible type. Although Moqtadr al sadr is supposedly a religious figure he is also somewhat of a warlord and he has now problem exerting his will on people in his region.

In Sadr City it is not the Iraqi military, or the U.S. Army, it is the Mehdi army led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who patrols the streets, al-sadr creates the policy and meters out the punishment. He is the warlord of the worst kind. He utilizes his religious following to enforce his racist ideals and to top it off most feel he is a political puppet for Iran.

Numerous Sadr City citizens say that the Mehdi army is in charge of security for the city, they also meter out justice and control most social services, they are a paramilitary government similar to the one set up in Palestine and Syria. The Mehdi army is becoming much like the military arm of Hezbollah.

al-Sadr becomes wields vast influence over parts of the Iraqi parliament which control numerous ministries of the government.

It is the health care ministry where he wields the most influence and this is where the problem is. Mehdi gunmen guard numerous hospitals throughout Baghdad. They help the Shiite and harass the Sunni’s. There are now rumored death squads working in these hospitals who are supposedly killing Sunni’s on purpose in response to sectarian violence occurring in other areas.

I think the policy in Iraq needs a vast overhaul and we need to get a grip on this soon. How can anyone with so much intelligence available to them not foresee how many problems we have incurred in Iraq? We need answers and we need them immediately. How much longer can this failed policy go before a change gets made? I sure hope some form of responsible leadership takes over and rights the problems in this policy before it all becomes nothing more than a gigantic money pit wasting away what resources we have left.

Related Posts