A quick observaton on Juan Cole's post today on a possible Al-Sadr/Sunni alliance. This topic has been of interest to me since early on in the American occupation of Iraq. Support for the Sunni resistance has been an element of Sadr's rhetoric from the beginning, as Cole points out using the example of the food convoys that streamed into Fallujah during the first siege.
Marchers break through US roadblocks
April 9, 2004
THOUSANDS of Sunni and Shiite Muslims forced their way
through US military checkpoints Thursday to ferry food and medical
supplies to the besieged Sunni bastion of Fallujah where US marines are
trying to crush insurgents.
Troops in armoured vehicles tried to stop the convoy of cars and
pedestrians from reaching the town located 50 kilometers west of
Baghdad.
But US forces were overwhelmed as residents of villages west of the
capital came to the convoy's assistance, hurling insults and stones at
the beleaguered troops.
This is, however, only a small part of the story that is necessary to understand the cooperation between the Sadrist Shiites and the Sunni of Iraq. While the bits of the story that I'm going to discuss were reported in the US media, they were usually underemphasized and quickly buried under the rush of news that was rarely analyzed in any depth, and even when an analysis was attempted, the Israeli-centric US media was unable to relate to the Iraqui point of view and thus reported these incidents using the accepted catchphrases such as "radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr" and "Sunni insurgent" for anyone who lived in Anbar province, which effectively obsured the relevance of statements and events.
Let's go back to the early days and remember what led to the initial US assault on Fallujah. I'll borrow a few papragraphs from Dahr Jamail's timeline for this:
March 31, 2004, Fallujah, Iraq
Four Blackwater USA mercenaries killed in Fallujah in an attack
avenging the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Nine
days after the assassination, the bodies of four mercenaries from
Blackwater USA were burned, chopped into pieces, dragged behind
vehicles bearing posters of Sheikh Yassin, and finally put on display
by being hung from a bridge. Pamphlets were distributed at the scene
which declared the attack against the four men as having been carried
out in the name of Yassin. It was also reported by several Arab media
outlets at the time that a group known as the "Phalange of Sheikh
Yassin" claimed responsibility for the attack, and that the deaths of
the four men were meant as a "gift to the Palestinian people."
Remember that? Most Americans probably remember the grotesque photos of the bodies on the bridge, but how many remember that it was done in revenge for Yassin's assassination by the Israeli Air Force on the order of Ariel Sharon? Nine bystanders were also killed in Yassin's assassination by US-made Hellfire missiles shot from US aircraft. The US blocked the UN's condemnation resolution for Yassin's killing, as usual.
Here's a related event:
Friday, March 26, 2004
Muslim
worshippers fight to shred an Israeli flag after prayers Friday during
a mock funeral for Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An influential
Shiite cleric in Iraq called Israel's targeted killing of the spiritual
leader of Hamas a "dirty crime against Islam" and the terrorist attacks
of September 11, 2001, "a miracle from God."
Moqtada al-Sadr
delivered a charged sermon Friday at a mosque near the holy city of
Najaf, blasting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the killing of
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas.
Everyone remembers that, right? Right. So, you see that Al-Sadr and many Sunnis were on the same page on this issue of Yassin's murder. In fact, two of the most outspoken clerics in condemning the killing of Yassin were Muqtada al-Sadr and this guy.....
Hizbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah vowed to avenge Yassin's
killing, saying Israel would "pay a heavy price for their ugly crime".
"Yassin's martyrdom is a new beginning for the resistance, jihad (holy
war) and intifada (uprising) and will have repercussions and
consequences far more dangerous than this usurper entity (Israel) has
so far seen," Nasrallah said in a statement eulogising Yassin on Al
Manar TV.
Nasrallah. Didn't he get sort of famous recently? Both Nasrallah and Sadr are Shiite. Yassin was Sunni. Is there a picture emerging here? Now let's look at Sadr again. Remember when Paul Bremer shut down al-Sadr's newspaper, inflaming the Shiite uprising that culminated in the big showdown in Najaf? What was that all about, initially?
March 26, 2004, Iraq
Four days after the assassination of Yassin, thousands of followers
of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, carrying portraits both of Yassin
and Sadr, demonstrated after Friday prayers in protest of Israel's
action by burning Israeli flags, chanting "No, no to Israel" and "No,
no to occupation." In Najaf, an Imam with the extremely powerful
political party the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq
(SCIRI) called for demonstrations outside the revered Imam Ali mosque.
Similar demonstrations were also held as far north as the city of Mosul.
The demonstration began promptly after it was ordered, with
protesters shouting, "Death to Israel, death to America." Other
demonstrations continued across Iraq daily for weeks after the
assassination, denouncing Israel's actions. Even US-appointed puppets
in Iraq's Interim Governing Council expressed grave concerns that the
killing of Yassin, who was highly respected throughout the Arab world,
would escalate violence in Iraq. This concern materialized within
hours, as blood began to flow throughout central and southern Iraq.
March 28, 2004, Baghdad, Iraq
The head of the CPA, Paul Bremer, ordered the closing of the
al-Hawza newspaper, the mouthpiece of Muqtada al-Sadr. One of Sadr's
spokespeople, Sheikh Mahmud Sudani, told reporters at the time that
al-Hawza had attracted censure because of its strong critique of the
killing of Sheikh Yassin by Israeli forces. The closing of this paper
was a primary factor that led to the first violent uprising called by
Sadr against the occupiers.
So, lets recap. Yassin, a Sunni cleric was assassinated by the Israelis. Al Sadr (Shiite), Nasrallah (S'hiite) vow revenge. Americans are killed in Fallujah (Sunni) in retaliation for Yassin's murder. The US lays siege to Fallujah. Sunni and Shiite Iraqis break the siege.
I'll close with this, by Kareem M. Kamel
The assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin no
doubt represents a turning point in the history of the Arab-Israeli
struggle and in the larger global conflict between the West and the
Muslim world. The occupation of Muslim lands, the support for "friendly
tyrants," and now, the systematic cold-blooded killing of Muslim icons
of resistance, will definitely fuel the cause of radicals in the Middle
East and silence any possible voices of moderation. For millions of
Muslims, Sheikh Yassin was, and always will be, a symbol of resistance,
piety, and self-sacrifice. Interestingly, his legacy of resistance and
steadfastness had a ripple-effect throughout the Islamic world that far
surpassed his frail figure. Perhaps his assassination was the wake-up
call needed for many Muslims to rise from their present slumber. One
only has to remember how the assassination of Sheikh Abdullah Azzam in
Peshawar, Pakistan in 1989, led to the radicalization of Arab-Afghans
and the establishment of al-Qaeda. Indeed, living martyrs usually come
back to haunt their oppressors.
