{"id":228,"date":"2007-01-19T06:17:43","date_gmt":"2007-01-19T11:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=228"},"modified":"2007-02-27T22:01:36","modified_gmt":"2007-02-28T03:01:36","slug":"sadr-confrontation-or-cooptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=228","title":{"rendered":"Sadr: Confrontation or Cooptation?"},"content":{"rendered":"
In a prior post<\/title>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=227\">prior post<\/a>, I noted that Reuel Marc Gerecht over at the Right Zionist American Enterprise Institute was quite adamant that the US should <em>not<\/em> inaugurate a new, aggressive counter-insurgency campaign with direct confrontation with Sadr.<\/p>\n<p>It now appears that the US (and Prime Minister Maliki) has gone ahead–pace Gerecht (and Cheney?)–and launched a crackdown on Sadr’s organization, including at least one high level leader.\u00c2\u00a0 CNN is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2007\/WORLD\/meast\/01\/19\/iraq.main\/index.html?eref=rss_topstories\"> reporting<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In an overnight raid, Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops captured a top \taide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in eastern Baghdad, the \tmilitia’s spokesman told CNN Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The spokesman said <strong>Sheikh Abdul al-Hadi Darraji — the director of \tSadr’s main offices in Sadr City<\/strong> — was arrested at a mosque in the \teastern Baghdad neighborhood of Belediyat, just outside Sadr City.<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. military statement Friday did not name Darraji specifically but \tdid announce U.S. and Iraqi forces had arrested a “high-level, illegal armed \tgroup leader” blamed for kidnapping, torturing and killing Iraqi civilians \twhile heading an “illegal armed group punishment committee.”<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the “armed group leader” is suspected of working with “death \tsquad commanders” and armed group cells that practice sectarian revenge \tkillings in Baghdad.<\/p>\n<p>Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Wednesday that security forces \tin recent days cracked down on the Mehdi Army. He said 400 arrests were \tmade.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.signonsandiego.com\/uniontrib\/20040405\/news_1n5iraq.html\"> last time the US moved against a top aide to Sadr<\/a>, back in April 2004, the capture sparked a Shiite uprising in Baghdad.<\/p>\n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=99\">several points in 2006<\/a>, the US has been <a href=\"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=156\"> to the brink<\/a> of a renewed confrontation with Sadr.\u00c2\u00a0 But each move has been short-circuited.<\/p>\n<p>Is the US now courting a full confrontation with Shiite Baghdad?\u00c2\u00a0 If so, it is not hard to imagine how a Shiite rebellion might ensue and how this uprising, in turn, might lead the US and some elements of the Sunni political elite to call for the formation of a “national salvation government”–an <a href=\"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=122\">anti-Shiite coup<\/a>–to quell the unrest and “restore order.”<\/p>\n<p>In another scenario, Sadr himself has given the green light for Maliki’s move against Sheikh Abdul al-Hadi Darraji, not only to appease the US but also to <a href=\"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=189\">let US forces battle rogue forces<\/a> within his own Mahdi Army militia.<\/p>\n<p>The US is suggesting that <span class=\"lead\">Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji has links to Abu Diraa, the figure I have been calling the <\/span><font> <a href=\"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/?p=110\">Keyser S\u00c3\u00b6ze of Sadr City<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/worldlatest\/story\/0,,-6356610,00.html\"> Associated Press<\/a> makes the link:<\/font><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>“The suspect allegedly leads various illegal armed group operations and \tis affiliated with illegal armed group cells targeting Iraqi civilians for \tsectarian attacks and violence,” [a military] statement read, adding he <strong> \twas believed to be affiliated with Baghdad death squad commanders, including \tAbu Diraa<\/strong>, a Shiite militia leader who has gained a reputation for his \tbrutality.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The AP story also includes a threat from Sadrists in Najaf of a violent backlash:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Abdul-Razzaq al-Nidawi, an al-Sadr aide in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, \tdemanded that al-Darraji and other detainees from the cleric’s movement, be \treleased and <strong>called for demonstrations after the weekly Friday prayer \tservices<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>“America is playing with fire and our patience is beginning to fade,” he \tsaid. “<strong>This savage barbarian act will not pass peacefully<\/strong>.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But <a href=\"http:\/\/today.reuters.co.uk\/news\/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=MAC927789&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-5\"> Reuters reports<\/a> that the Sadrists disavowed a violent response:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The U.S. military said in a statement that Iraqi special forces backed by \tAmerican advisers seized an unnamed man they described as a death squad \tleader wanted for kidnap, torture and murder and linked to fugitive Shi’ite \twarlord Abu Deraa.<\/p>\n<p>Aides to Sadr said the man held was Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, a prominent media \tspokesman for their movement. <strong>An official in Sadr’s political office<\/strong> \tbranded his detention a deliberate “provocation” but <strong>said they would not \trespond with violence<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Gerecht has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aei.org\/publications\/filter.all,pubID.25466\/pub_detail.asp\"> suggested<\/a> that Sadr “may play along.”\u00c2\u00a0 But that idea was predicated on a US campaign that<em> <\/em>began by targeting the Sunni insurgency, not the Shia of Sadr City.<\/p>\n<p>This move against al-Darraji makes it seem like the point of the “surge” is to take on the Shia.\u00c2\u00a0 Even at the level of appearances, this move could provoke a Shiite backlash–a rebellion that extends beyond the control of Muqtada al-Sadr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a prior postIn a prior post, I noted that Reuel Marc Gerecht over at the Right Zionist American Enterprise Institute was quite adamant that the US should not inaugurate a new, aggressive counter-insurgency campaign with direct confrontation with Sadr. It now appears that the US (and Prime Minister Maliki) has gone ahead–pace Gerecht (and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profcutler.com\/wordpress_blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}