Iran, Muqtada al-Sadr and the narrative of Iraqi resistance

By Snorre Lindquist.
May 18, 2012 in En: About Iraq

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The dogged and heroic Iraqi resistance has for a long time been treated unfairly and often directly ignorant in the western anti-war media, strangely enough.  The last couple of years there has been an alarming silence.  It was therefore with a certain feeling of relief that I read Nicolas J.S. Davies “The Victory of Popular Resistance in Occupied Iraq” published 21 Oct 2011 http://warisacrime.org/content/victory-popular-resistance-occupied-iraq 1.  The word “victory” in the headline was startling.

The same judgement of “victory” in the past years of occupation was made by Dr. Mohammed Bashar Al-Faidhi in my interview in April 2012 http://arabnyheter.info/sv/2012/05/01/the-iraqi-resistance-is-still-fine/.  Few people have a better knowledge of the situation for the Iraqies than the leaders of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI).  Their Secretary General Dr. Hareth Al-Dhari is the international representative and spokesman for the probably most effective and well-organized resistance fractions of Iraq.  AMSI is also an umbrella for non-violent patriotic well-fare organisations, whose members are working close to the everyday life of the Iraqies.

Nicolas Davies has made a for the most part ambitious and interesting summary of the narrative of Iraqi resistance up to now, whith ample references to sources.  But his review omits mentioning Iran’s and Israel’s part in the ocupation of Iraq and he also makes a serious mistake concerning Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi-army.  I will leave the case of Israel for a separate article.

Concerning Iran’s complicity in the occupation

Irans’s involvement in Iraq is probably the one issue that has put international solidarity with Iraq’s resistance on hold.  Many who are critical of Israel and support the Palestinians look to Iran as the only country in the world that consistently opposes Zionism in favour of the Palestinians.  Because of this, the solidarity movement does not criticise Iran’s involvement in Iraq.  This is not advantageous either for the people of Iraq or the Palestinians.  As long as Iran opposes the resistance struggle against the occupation of Iraq, there is less credibility for its support of the Palestinians.

The following is an important quotation from Dr. Al-Faidhi at a seminar in Stockholm, april 2009, which summarizes the devastating effect of the Iranian intervention on the struggle of the Iraqies for liberation.

Iran’s involvement is considerable….a catastrophe that adds to the already difficult situation in Iraq….we have been thrown into a deep sand pit and Iran does not lend us a hand to clamber out.  Indeed, Iran helps the Americans to shovel more sand over us….Iran is very dangerous for us….but we have chosen to focus on the struggle against the US, our major enemy.  The US started the invasion of Iraq, and allowed Iran to become involved…..the Americans treat Iran as an associate in Iraq.  It was the US that saw too it that Iran’s collaborators attained government positions.  Militaries and death squadrons trained in Iran have, with the help of the US, established themselves in Iraq’s police force and army.

For a more thorough study I refer to the attached sources.

Concerning Muqtada al-Sadr and the Mehdi-army

Many in the west forming public oppion want to regard Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi-army as being included in the resistance, because it has fought the the occupation at least at times, and as it is rooted among Baghdads poorest inhabitants.

The judgement of AMSI and all the effective fractions of the Iraqi resistance is, according to their own websites, the complete opposite: the warlord Muqtada al-Sadr allies himself with or makes war against the quislingregime, fights against the US-army or enters into truce and collaborates with the US-army – whatever it for the day fits his aims, which are gaining power to his own person and wealth.

Furthermore he has served the interests of Iran by making his notorious Mehdi-army terrorize and subject sunnimuslims to ethnical cleansing in the towns of the southern Iraq.  The Mahdi-army was to 75% responsible for the cleansings in Baghdad according to AMSI.

Snorre Lindquist
18 May 2012

I am a retired Swedish architect.  One of my last comissions was designing the Peace Center and the new Manger Square in front of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem.  From this experience followed a deep commitment to the Palestian cause, and later to the Iraqian.
 

Notes

1.  The article with the same name in www.arabnyheter.info.se is cut from War is aCrime, re-edited, shortened and without reference to sources.  Please click on One on that website for the original article.

Sources

Dr. Hareth Al-Dhari: “The american occupation is the cover of the Iranian interference in Iraq”
http://www.heyetnet.org/eng/meetings/2790-sheikh-dhari-the-american-occupation-is-the-cover-of-the-iranian-interference-in-iraq.html

Eman A. Khamas: “Militias and death squads: the occupation strategy to divide iraq”.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=42153

Muhammed T. Al-Deraji: “Human rigts situation in Karbala. 28 May 2005″.
http://www.iraksolidaritet.se/index.php?nr=171&print=1

Dimitri Delalieu: “Iran’s influens in Iraq”.
http://studies.agentura.ru/centres/esisc/IransinfluenceinIraq.pdf

Ayman Mohammad: “Sectarian tension: from extremists to moderats”.
http://conflictsforum.org/?p=402&akst-action=share-this

Hussein Anwar: “A mix of the Iraqi Scene”.
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m63474

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