Las paradojas son comunes en la estrategia. Al parecer, en Irak está cerca de que ocurra una más: que Irán termine siendo el principal beneficiario de la intervención de los EEUU.
Thousands of Sadr supporters rally against U.S. in Baghdad By Tim Craig, 26 May
 |
| Las disciplinadas fuerzas de Mustafá Sadr marchan en Bagdad. |
But the parade included an overwhelming tenor of anti-American hostility.
Squad leaders for each cluster carried signs stating “No, No for America” and “No, No for Israel.”
In front of the main viewing stand, filled with high-ranking Sadrist officials but not Sadr himself, the parade would stop periodically and participants would burn American and Israeli flags.
In another show of hostility toward U.S. forces serving in the country, young boys trained in martial arts would perform elaborate gymnastics and kick or punch through U.S. flags made of styrofoam.
Sadr’s recent efforts to reinsert himself in Iraq’s political process after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran are putting additional pressure on Iraqi and U.S. officials grappling with fresh security challenges and the question of whether any American troops will remain in the country after this year.
“I applied to the call of Sadr to participate against American occupiers,” said Salah Emarah, 35, who traveled from his home in Basra to march in the parade. “This is a peaceful demonstration against American occupiers. Sadr asked us to remain peaceful. At the end of the year, according to Iraq, the occupiers will leave. If they don’t, we will wait for orders.”
The Associated Press estimated at least 70,000 marchers and well-wishers crammed Sadr City, a predominately Shiite slum that was once a hotbed of violence against U.S troops. The rally was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the birth of the prophet Muhammad’s daughter.
The biggest cheers from the crowd were reserved for participants from towns with majority Sunni or Kurdish populations in northern Iraq. Sadr advisers said their participation was a sign the militia’s appeal has expanded beyond predominately Shiite southern Iraq.
Under a cloak of heavy security leading into Sadr City’s main commercial area, there did not appear to be any violence or major incidents.
But many spectators predicted that could quickly change if U.S. forces do not leave by the end of the year.
“All the people in Sadr City are waiting for orders from Muqtada Sadr,” said Muhammad Fuad, a 28-year-old carpenter watching the parade. “And we have people all over Iraq — northern, southern.”
During the height of the insurgency after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Sadr and his militia were blamed for much of the sectarian and other violence that killed thousands of American troops and nearly plunged Iraq into civil war.
With the support of then-President George W. Bush, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki crushed the Mahdi Army in late 2007 and 2008, sending Sadr into hiding until this year.
The march comes at a delicate time for Maliki as he weighs whether to request an extension for some U.S. troops.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and some congressional leaders have said that they would like to keep some troops in Iraq to help in the training and security of Iraqi forces. Maliki has suggested that he is open to a continued U.S. presence, but only if most of the country’s main political blocs agree.
According to a report in Iraqi media this week, Maliki plans to meet with bloc leaders in the coming days to discuss a plan that would allow up to 20,000 U.S. troops to remain, about half of the 46,000 currently in the country.
Sadr hinted after a sermon this month that he could be persuaded to agree to letting some troops remain if the extension was part of a broader political agreement between the Sadrists and Maliki, also a Shiite.
But Ali al-Kufi, Sadr’s head of media affairs in Najaf, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that a continued U.S. presence could quickly turn the Mahdi Army back into a fighting force.
“The march is a way we say ... in case the American forces insist on staying ... we have a military choice to face them,” Kufi said.
Special correspondents Aziz Alwan and Asaad Majeed in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf, Iraq, contributed to this report.
Squad leaders for each cluster carried signs stating “No, No for America” and “No, No for Israel.”
In front of the main viewing stand, filled with high-ranking Sadrist officials but not Sadr himself, the parade would stop periodically and participants would burn American and Israeli flags.
In another show of hostility toward U.S. forces serving in the country, young boys trained in martial arts would perform elaborate gymnastics and kick or punch through U.S. flags made of styrofoam.
Sadr’s recent efforts to reinsert himself in Iraq’s political process after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran are putting additional pressure on Iraqi and U.S. officials grappling with fresh security challenges and the question of whether any American troops will remain in the country after this year.
“I applied to the call of Sadr to participate against American occupiers,” said Salah Emarah, 35, who traveled from his home in Basra to march in the parade. “This is a peaceful demonstration against American occupiers. Sadr asked us to remain peaceful. At the end of the year, according to Iraq, the occupiers will leave. If they don’t, we will wait for orders.”
The Associated Press estimated at least 70,000 marchers and well-wishers crammed Sadr City, a predominately Shiite slum that was once a hotbed of violence against U.S troops. The rally was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the birth of the prophet Muhammad’s daughter.
The biggest cheers from the crowd were reserved for participants from towns with majority Sunni or Kurdish populations in northern Iraq. Sadr advisers said their participation was a sign the militia’s appeal has expanded beyond predominately Shiite southern Iraq.
Under a cloak of heavy security leading into Sadr City’s main commercial area, there did not appear to be any violence or major incidents.
 |
| El jóven y polémico clérigo. |
“All the people in Sadr City are waiting for orders from Muqtada Sadr,” said Muhammad Fuad, a 28-year-old carpenter watching the parade. “And we have people all over Iraq — northern, southern.”
During the height of the insurgency after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Sadr and his militia were blamed for much of the sectarian and other violence that killed thousands of American troops and nearly plunged Iraq into civil war.
With the support of then-President George W. Bush, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki crushed the Mahdi Army in late 2007 and 2008, sending Sadr into hiding until this year.
The march comes at a delicate time for Maliki as he weighs whether to request an extension for some U.S. troops.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and some congressional leaders have said that they would like to keep some troops in Iraq to help in the training and security of Iraqi forces. Maliki has suggested that he is open to a continued U.S. presence, but only if most of the country’s main political blocs agree.
According to a report in Iraqi media this week, Maliki plans to meet with bloc leaders in the coming days to discuss a plan that would allow up to 20,000 U.S. troops to remain, about half of the 46,000 currently in the country.
Sadr hinted after a sermon this month that he could be persuaded to agree to letting some troops remain if the extension was part of a broader political agreement between the Sadrists and Maliki, also a Shiite.
But Ali al-Kufi, Sadr’s head of media affairs in Najaf, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that a continued U.S. presence could quickly turn the Mahdi Army back into a fighting force.
“The march is a way we say ... in case the American forces insist on staying ... we have a military choice to face them,” Kufi said.
Special correspondents Aziz Alwan and Asaad Majeed in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf, Iraq, contributed to this report.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario