Word: clerics
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...taking on the Shi'ite militias responsible for the violence, the Iraqi government has shown even less inclination to do so. Shi'ite militias have powerful backing from political parties that dominate the coalition government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The Mahdi Army is loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who controls at least 30 seats in the 275-member parliament. "We must not demonize the Mahdi Army or Muqtada," says a senior Coalition official. "He is a legitimate political player...
...Normalized relations mean increased contact with the outside world, and the emergence of professional groups with the expertise needed to manage such contact. This alarms the clerical regime, for Iran's political history is dominated by the competition of professional and clerics for power. The Islamic revolution and its constitution vested clerics with control of everything, and this state of affairs is most secure when the country remains closed, with professionals kept at bay. If Iran is opened to the West, if Western-educated lawyers, businesspeople, and engineers expand their influence, in 10 years who will want a cleric...
...players has to resort to a penalty shoot-out after 90 minutes of normal playing time and 30 minutes of extra time to decide the outcome? And then, that outcome ultimately rests on the goalkeeper's guessing correctly which way to dive! Tuan Pickard Port Elizabeth, South Africa Controversial Cleric I was saddened by your interview with Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop?elect of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. [July 17]. When asked about her focus as head of her church, she mentioned feeding people, providing primary education, promoting sustainable development and healing people with aids, tuberculosis...
...have little time for other people's tragedies. The news from Lebanon has dominated Arab channels like al-Jazeera in recent weeks, but it hasn't resonated much with Iraqis. Politicians, especially Shi'ite leaders with ties to Iran, have issued predictable broadsides against Israel; some, like the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have blamed the U.S. too. He orchestrated a large pro-Hizballah demonstration in his Sadr City stronghold last week--a protest against the bombing in Lebanon but also a piece of political theater designed to showcase the strength of his support (and a response to a muscle...
...prescription for reversing the slide to civil war was a reminder of the growing challenge facing coalition forces in stabilizing Iraq. "If we are to avoid a descent into civil war and anarchy," Patey warned, "then preventing the Jaish al-Mahdi [the Mahdi Army of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr] from developing into a state within a state, as Hizballah has done in Lebanon, will be a priority...