"Iraq security pact vote points to loss of clout for Sadr and followers" by Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times | December 5, 2008
That may be, but he sure gets a lot of people out to protest:
Occupation Iraq: The Four Million Man March
Occupation Iraq: Protests the MSM Can't Miss
Also see: The Real Muqtada al-Sadr
BAGHDAD - A lasting image from Parliament's debate on a US-Iraqi security plan is of a lawmaker loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr sweeping his arm across a table in a rage, hurling books, papers and a vase of flowers onto the floor of the chamber.
Ahmed Masoudi's televised tantrum, and days of Sadr loyalists shouting, desk-pounding and pleading for Parliament to reject the pact, made no difference. Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers approved the Status of Forces Agreement, which sets a Dec. 31, 2011, deadline for US forces to leave Iraq. Sadr says the deal has loopholes that could extend the US presence.
The vote last week was a sign of how Sadr's clout has diminished since 2005, when his Parliament bloc provided the boost needed to propel fellow Shi'ite Nouri al-Maliki into the prime minister's role. Now that Sadr's ultimate goal, a US exit, is in sight, questions are arising about his political future.
Or so the U.S. hopes during the upcoming (rigged) elections.
Things have changed from the days when Sadr's support was crucial to keeping Maliki in power, or when his supporters could use their street credibility to turn the public against the prime minister. Sadr has lost some political and military run-ins with Maliki. Critics and observers say he has made some missteps....
Let's see him lift the ban on Mahdi activities and we'll see, lying AmeriKan MSM!
A year later, Maliki's offensive against Shi'ite militia strongholds in Basra and the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad ended with Sadr calling a cease-fire and his fighters giving up the streets they had controlled. Even though Maliki needed US air power and ground support, by all accounts he emerged with a stronger sense of himself as a leader....
One US official said. "I mean, this is an Iraq that was really standing up and showing us and everyone they can do something."
Oh, this is getting sick.
First of all, the operations were announced and went poorly! I didn't forget; the MSM trumpeted the demonstration of Iraq power until they got bogged down. Then Iran came in and brokered a peace!
But that doesn't stop the MSM from REWRITING HISTORY with its LIES and DISTORTIONS!! And you wonder why I curse here?
A second US official said passage of the Status of Forces Agreement left Sadr and his 30-member parliamentary bloc in an awkward spot. Acknowledging that the pullout dates are firm "would probably not be a political decision Sadr would be interested in taking," said the official, because it would leave him without an issue to rally supporters around.
Sadr has worked hard to portray the pact as full of holes designed to let the Americans stay longer. The pact includes withdrawal dates - June 30, 2009, for combat troops to leave cities and Dec. 31, 2011, for all troops to leave Iraq. There is some vagueness.
Oh, HERE WE GO!
The pact does not specify what constitutes a "combat" troop; it leaves many details to be worked out by yet-to-be formed committees; it allows for amendments if both sides agree, which could be interpreted as allowing for extensions.
Translation: WE AIN'T LEAVIN' and we NEVER WERE!!! WTF? This is an OUTRAGE of a NOTHING AGREEMENT!!!!!
Those arguments were not enough to sway lawmakers. Some had indicated they were wary of the pact but struck bargains in exchange for supporting it....
Toby Dodge, an Iraq analyst at London's Institute for Strategic and International Studies, said neither Sadrists nor the Sunnis wanted to be seen as embracing SOFA and, by extension, the presence of foreign forces. But unlike the Sunnis, who could use their demand for a referendum as proof that they resisted the security agreement, Sadr's supporters never had a plan.
I find it FASCINATING that the AmeriKan MSM IGNORES the SUNNI REFERENDUM as part of the deal! But they aren't PUSHING for FURTHER OCCUPATION or anything! This is the same damn MSM that kept telling us the deal was no problem, etc, etc. I'm tired of their lies, and they are outstanding on Iraq today! Pure prop!
"I think the Sadrists have really marginalized themselves, and that leaves some uneasy questions," Dodge said. For instance, does Sadr plan to turn his Mahdi Army militia into a Hezbollah-like organization to wield power lost in the political arena? Does he plan to resume attacks on US forces?
And what happens if he does? Where is HIS CREDIT for the SURGE, huh?
Notice how the MSM makes it PERSONAL, as if SADR HIMSELF is carrying out the attacks? Do they ever say that about Bush? He never resumes attacks, the U.S. military just strikes, huh?
--more--"
