If there’s a nightclub within all of Baghdad that one might desire entry to, it is a well known fact that once you say to the bouncer, “I am here to see Moqtada”, the list in their hand is meaningless. Whether it be a Sunni, Shia or Reggae club, al-Sadr’s potential arrival is worth taking chances for. Many a venue has experienced booze shortages and money at the door like they’ve never seen with nothing more than a simple half-hour visit from this Iraqi legend. The party kicks into gear, and those who were lucky enough to have been inside before the man arrived, experience a phenomena that can only be compared to gremlins in a swiming pool, only instead of gremlins it’s hot horny jail-bait ass from wall to wall. Seemingly out from nowhere they emerge, with hungry eyes aimed right at you, a distance growing shorter every second as they maintain eye contact all the way through the crowd, arrive and ask, “can I buy you a drink?”
Easily understood as to why the people outside and especially inside the Iraqi government appear loyal to al-Sadr before all others. Notice the front row seat he managed to score for the lynching of Saddam:
So without having to load this piece up with more words than it needs, all you need to know is that an ‘al-‘ is bound to be dead soon in Iraq, and every pundit from flower to ball gag will have a take on it. All I know is, the bouncer trick that worked for months isn’t working now, as owners are wary of those US satelites and missiles. Simply put, life is ROUGH in Baghdad, in a way that makes Compton in 1990 look like a theme park.
I’d like to hear more about this, and see some up close pictures.
Would your posting not have been improved by mentioning that the original posting of this story and photomontage on Iraqslogger.com was subheaded as follows:
and that the body of the posting as well as containing the photomontage said the following:
I don’t find those images convincing myself, nor am I completely convinced that the voices mocking and taunting Saddam are Muqtada followers. They tend to be from Sadr city, or the South and from the poorer sections of society and have a very harsh accent. The accents on video aren’t quite right. Not a convincing rebuttal and not offered as such but enough to raise some fairly hefty doubts in my mind.
The other point is that whatever other nasty things you say about him, and I have regularly said many nasty things about him, what you can’t say is that he’s stupid.
I think I wouldn’t want to be quite as emphatic as you’ve been without some fairly convincing proof.
Hope this helps – keep well 🙂
I don’t think that I trashed al-Sadr here or provided much of an opinion as to whether the US push to kill him was just or smart in a strategic sense. Honestly, it was reading an article about one of his lieutenants being apprehended and Bush’s criticism of the way Saddam’s execution was carried out…something clicked, and at that moment I realized that killing al-Sadr was a US military goal whereas prior to now it had not.
Public statements as to the amount of faith our leaders have in PM Maliki have sounded ridiculous to me ever since I read the Wall Street Journal interview that contained:
http://deadissue.com/archives/2007/01/05/straight-shooter/
My belief at this point is that Bush’s strategy is to support Maliki publicly, while eroding his power in any way possible. Cheney’s trip to Saudi Arabia last month and the news reports from that country pertaining to their now public (of course privately it has been this way for quite a while) support with funds, weapons and people to the Sunni portion of the Iraqi population, indicates to me that in order to retain our positive standing with the Saudis at the level we have prior to the war, we must do their bidding in Iraq.
This means the annihalation of al-Sadr, the further humiliation of PM Maliki, and of course the harrassment and detention of Iranian government representatives within the country.
As to the accuracy of what is contained in the pictures above, I have little way of determining that what you say is wrong, nor do I believe it is. For my purpose though, being a b-blog in the universe that is full of more and more everyday, the motivations at play are what I’d like to describe first and foremost.
Once people are at war, if the reason for the war is a lie, then you fight on that lie. My impression is that throughout the predominantly Sunni Middle East region, the accuracy of those photos is inconsequential. They understand what they want to understand for the sake of motivation. Lies can persist and be used by leaders to the benefit of their interests.
Europe’s conflicts throughout the 100 years war and just about every war the USA has ever fought in has been founded on the lie that motivates. Once the weapons are drawn, once the blood is spilled, lie or no lie, it doesn’t matter. Nor does it matter to the puppeteers.
Thank you for your incitefull comment! I find that the only way to elaborate on a point at times is to be engaged and forced to defend my ideas.
Simply put, my intent was to point out that al-Sadr is loved by the people and currently being hunted down by my government by order of the Saudi royal family. I have no clue as to whether it is the right thing to do, or whether the outcome is one that benefits our interests. I think the ridiculous record of stupidity exhibited by our domestic punditry since 2001 warrants this kind of an attitude once in a while…though I’m sure Tom Friedman will explain this to me soon enough…
Peace – Al
Given the opportunity, I’m sure Freidman is ready and willing to explain any number of things for you. Mostly they amount to the same thing: I’m Tom Freidman, an exceptionally perspicacious and intelligent man. Any time reality fails to comply with my pronouncments, it is, in fact, reality that is in the wrong. For I am Tom Freidman. And I am not smug.
Al,
this game is killing me!!!!!!
Damn it all to hell! Hats off to the Colts.
THANK YOU! So many years reading his column, it’s so unsatisfying to hear him speak of the future…with the baby cut in half for so many years, I’ve wondered for a while now whether his ideas about himself have completely eclipsed the importance of what is actually happening in Iraq. One of his from a while back, during the Israel-Lebanon conflict, had him on a rooftop somewhere surrounded by anti-Israeli folk who he’d describe as short sighted, elitist, etc…making sence of course, but what the hell does he have to say about the carnage actually taking place on the streets?
Krugman is one of the Times columnists who never strays from what he KNOWS TO BE TRUE, and over the years I’ve learned to appreciate his ability to not constantly seem to be ‘Paul Krugman writes‘, but rather ‘ , fact, fact, fact, fact, fact, fact…Paul Krugman’
If that makes any sense. I’m in a bad place right now after the Pats game.
Bernie – Caldwell can’t drop those balls in those moments…very disappointing. Also, the penalty for 12 players in the huddle was an omen…very unlike this team to be confused in a moment like that.
Cheers to Krugman–you’re absolutely right about him. Ditto on the 12-men penalty. You kind of knew it after that–there was too much time on the clock and they had stalled repeatedly.
I think the offensive playcalling was out of wack in this game and previous ones as well. You have two downhill runners like Maroney and Dillon, yet consistently have them running delays and draws…giving up on the run AGAIN, just like a week before in SanDiego…in the 4th quarter when tied or with the lead, I want Brady under center handing it off. It seemed like every handoff to Maroney had him dancing 3 yards behind the line and never moving forward. The defense sticks it out for that 3-and-out after all the pain and fatigue they were going through, and the offense screws them over again.
Development with al-Sadr