David Seaton's News LinksIf you study a map of southern Iraq you will see that all the roads leading from Kuwait and the Persian Gulf port of Basra to Baghdad and points north run through the Shiite areas where Moktada al-Sadr is able to call up tens of thousands of disciplined demonstrators who shout "death to America" in chorus. Moktada al-Sadr is said to be in Iran under the protection of the Ayatollahs.
As most of the supplies of the American forces in Iraq are brought in though those roads by trucks driven by civilian contractors, it is not difficult to imagine how easy it would be for al-Sadr and/or Iran to severely interrupt that flow of supplies. It would be impossible to make up the massive shortfall by airlift. The entire American presence in Iraq has been made possible by the acquiesence of the Shiite community. Monday's demonstrations show that such acquiescence is at an end. Certainly such acquiescence wouldn't survive an American attack on Iran. Monday's demonstrations thus mark the beginning of the end game. DS
Huge Protest in Iraq Demands U.S. Withdraw - New York Times
Abstract: Tens of thousands of protesters loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric, took to the streets of the holy city of Najaf on Monday in an extraordinarily disciplined rally to demand an end to the American military presence in Iraq, burning American flags and chanting “Death to America!” Residents said that the angry, boisterous demonstration was the largest in Najaf, the heart of Shiite religious power, since the American-led invasion in 2003. It took place on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, and it was an obvious effort by Mr. Sadr to show the extent of his influence here in Iraq, even though he did not appear at the rally.(...) During the protest in Najaf, Sadr followers draped themselves in Iraqi flags and waved them to symbolize national unity, and a small number of conservative Sunni Arabs took part in the march. “We have 30 people who came,” said Ayad Abdul Wahab, an agriculture professor in Basra and an official in the Iraqi Islamic Party, a leading fundamentalist Sunni Arab group. “We support Moktada in this demonstration, and we stress our rejection of foreign occupation.”(....) The protest was in some ways another challenge to the Shiite clerical hierarchy, showing that in the new Iraq, a violent young upstart like Mr. Sadr can command the masses right in the backyard of venerable clerics like Ayatollah Sistani. Mr. Sadr has increasingly tapped into a powerful desire among Shiites to stand up forcefully to both the American presence and militant Sunnis, and to ignore calls for moderation from older clerics.(...) Estimates of the crowd’s size varied wildly. A police commander in Najaf, Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Mayahi, said there were at least half a million people. Colonel Garver said that military reports had estimates of 5,000 to 7,000. Residents and other Iraqi officials said there were tens of thousands, and television images of the rally seemed to support their estimates. The colonel declined to give any information on the whereabouts of Mr. Sadr, though American military officials said weeks ago that they believed he is in Iran. Mr. Sadr’s aides declined to say where he is, but previously they have said he remained in Iraq. READ IT ALL
