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A correction which may have substantive implications: I received earlier today the email which Michael forwarded here on a UFPJ list, sent by Mark Jensen, and with the "Comment" signed by Mark. If you click on the link at the end of Michael's forward it takes you to the list of Mark's group and shows the email to have been written by Henry Adams. Either way, the point is that Michael did not write the Comment, which is a glowing tribute to Moqtada al-Sadr. Which wouldn't surprise me coming from Mark, a dyed in the wool fanatical supporter of Assad. It's good to know that Michael didn't write it, because my impression is that al-Sadr has always been more talk than action, and, while I very, very much hope that al-Sadr is as interested in nonsectarian unity as the Commenter believes, I'm not counting on it given al-Sadr's social and ideological position. On Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 7:59 PM, Michael Karadjis via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ====================================================================== > Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > ====================================================================== > > > Daily Mail interviews Moqtada's commander in Baghdad > Sunday, 29 June 2014 06:58 Henry Adams > > On Saturday Barbara Jones published in the London Daily Mail an account of > her interview with Ibrahim al-Jaberi, the Mahdi Army's militia commander in > Baghdad.[1] -- COMMENT: Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army, > is a hero to millions of Iraqi Shiites and the only leader who has a chance > of uniting Iraqis to fight off the fanatical ISIS. -- He represents > genuine Iraqi nationalism and is the only major Shiite leader has fought to > defend Sunnis and thus has a claim to their allegiance. -- But the forces > he fought to defend them were American and British, and he represents the > poorer strata of Iraqi society, to which U.S. policy is indifferent when it > is not hostile. -- As a result, Moqtada and his Mahdi Army get only > negative press in the West when they get any press at all. -- The failure > of the U.S. to come to terms with Moqtada is a clear sign that maintaining > the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq is not the highest American > priority.... > 1. > > MY PERILOUS VOYAGE INTO BAGHDAD'S DRAGON DEN > By Barbara Jones > > ** A dramatic dispatch on a saber-rattling encounter with rebel chief ** > > Daily Mail (London) > June 28, 2014 > > http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2673472/My- > perilous-voyage-Baghdad-dragons-den-BARBARA-JONESS- > dramatic-dispatch-sabre-rattling-encounter-rebel-chief.html > > Shots echo in the street below as my phone rings. It’s just after dawn in > a Baghdad under curfew. The head of the Mahdi Army -- the fanatical Shia > force and avowed enemies of the West -- has agreed to see me: but on his > terms. > > I must venture into Sadr City, the slum district of the Iraqi capital that > defied British and American occupation for a decade. > > Now the militants have a new enemy -- the Sunni terror group ISIS, who > have left a trail of blood across Iraq and are fast closing in on Baghdad > itself. > > That has not dimmed the army’s hatred of the West -- and I will be told in > no uncertain terms that foreign intervention will be ‘unacceptable.’ > > But first I must get to Sadr City, a volatile place with a > ‘fight-to-the-death’ spirit, whose streets have seen terrible sectarian > bloodshed. > > It was named after the father of Moqtada al-Sadr, the army’s founder. He > was a Grand Ayatollah who stood up to Saddam Hussein and was shot dead by > the dictator’s Sunni supporters. > > I had encountered the Mahdi Army before. In 2005, when I was with a > British Army patrol in Basra, we were attacked by their fighters aiming > rocket-propelled grenades at us. Yet now I am speaking to them; agreeing > to the instructions for this meeting: I am to drive to the Habibi > Hospital, call a number, and wait for Al-Sadr’s men. > > The militant leader knows no compromise, and only last week warned America > and her allies to ‘take their hands off Iraq.’ He claims to have > re-invented his fighting force as a ‘peace brigade’ to defend Baghdad. > > Driving through empty early-morning streets, the dashboard shows a > temperature of 41 C. (106 F.), another day of suffocating heat. Inside > our car, flak jackets are flattened against the doors, protection against > roadside bombs that kill four people a day here. > > This is a city in a state of siege, nervously awaiting, fearing, an attack > by the Sunni forces or a return of the Americans. Checkpoints, car > searches and blast walls are all a way of life. > > We arrive at the hospital, a sad run-down structure surrounded by rolls of > barbed wire. Seven Mahdi Army men soon pull up, all in black police > uniforms and bristling with weapons. > > They check our papers and signal for us to follow them through the > rubbish-strewn streets. Low-key is not their style. > > Their Ford pick-up careers through busy markets with much hooting of horns > and screeching of brakes. Any vehicles getting in the way end up at the > dangerous end of a rifle barrel. > > Residents live their lives, opening pavement kiosks, servicing rundown > cars, and recycling tires. Two sheep are led into a butcher’s shop to meet > their fate. Cans of petrol are lined up at the roadside, a symbol of > poverty in an oil-rich country. But no one looks up as we speed past. > People here are trained to see only what they need to see. > > Eventually we skid around a corner between broken buildings. White gates > swing open on to a courtyard. > > A striking figure in a turban comes out to greet us -- the man we have > come to meet, cleric-cum-warlord Ibrahim al-Jaberi, Al-Sadr’s commander in > Baghdad. Our escort excitedly surround him, scrambling for photos. > > Once in his reception room, with its garish red velvet furniture and an > excerpt from the Koran engraved on a goat-skin, it is clear Al-Jaberi is > playing games with us. All of his pronouncements carry an underlying > menace. > > Fingering prayer beads, he says: ‘We have changed. We are warriors for > peace now, we don’t want war. We want the people of Iraq to unite against > our new enemy [ISIS]. In the past our enemies were America and Britain, > invading our country. Our duty then was to get them out.’ > > All the rockets, the heavy artillery, the cans of Semtex, the ammo vests > of the suicide bombers we saw in a big parade of peace brigade force last > weekend -- they are all for defense, he insists. ‘We will use those > weapons if ISIS comes to Baghdad. And we will not work alongside the Iraqi > military. We will not take orders from them.’ > > He flinches as I take something from my rucksack and I realize: the armed > escort, the secrecy, it was all for his security, not ours. I smile > reassuringly at him. We are both aware of the danger we represent to each > other. > > Al-Jaberi has a warning: ‘We reject Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, > and Usama al-Nujaifi, speaker of parliament. > > 'They are thieves and bad leaders. We want them to go, we have nothing > but contempt for them. We also reject outside interference. We will not > accept America or Britain interfering again. We don’t want Syria or Iran > or any other foreign forces here. > > ‘What would Britain do if foreign forces invaded? That would lead to > violence for you, would it not?’ The veiled threat hangs in the air. This > was a man delivering his master’s message. > > Leaving Al-Jaberi’s lair, we found ourselves on the streets without an > escort. Now we were on our own. > > A phone call brings us a security guard on a motor-scooter who leads us > out of the slum. Sadr City is behind us now, but what happens here next > could seal the future of Iraq, and beyond > http://ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/11973/ > ________________________________________________ > Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/ > options/marxism/acpollack2%40gmail.com > ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
