Word: muqtada
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Bold Steps in Iraq Re "new thugs on the block" [April 19], on the insurgency of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Shi'ite militiamen: After years of diplomacy failed to bring Iraq into compliance with U.N. resolutions, the hard decision was made to employ military intervention. In international relations, humanitarian military intercession can be justified. The U.S. took a bold step in Iraq, even if it was also strongly driven by its national interests. It is unfair for European countries to condemn every U.S. action in the Middle East. Thugs like al-Sadr prove that people are ready to destroy...
...Thugs is an inadequate word for the Shi'ite militiamen of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who have been battling the U.S. Thugs are what police deal with on city streets. But U.S. troops in Iraq aren't getting rolled for their wallets. Fighters using rocket-propelled grenades and firing at Apache helicopters are more than common thugs. These people are guerrillas, soldiers, insurgents, rebels or terrorists. Calling them thugs only downplays the difficulties in Iraq. Once President George W. Bush and the American people realize we're not dealing with thugs, then maybe we can come up with the number...
...Sadr newspaper ran a picture last week of a man hanged by al-Sadr followers for "spying." Waving the photo, Muntadhar al-Khazali, 18, an al-Sadr loyalist, issued a threat to others: "Anyone who works against us, this will be their fate. We will never let Muqtada al-Sadr die. If America is such a great country, why doesn't it come and get him?" Perhaps because there's a reasonable chance that someone else will first. --By Simon Robinson/Baghdad. Reported by Hassan Fattah/Dubai and Meitham Jasim/Najaf
...sped toward the guard post near Najaf's Safi al-Safa shrine just as the muezzin began his evening call to prayers. Inside the car, three gunmen prepared to fire. Their targets were members of the Mahdi Army, a band of militants loyal to the firebrand Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has holed up in Najaf for the past month to avoid capture by the 2,500 U.S. soldiers surrounding the city. As the Volvo neared the tiny brick-and-reed building, a gunman in the car opened up with his AK-47, hitting one of al-Sadr...
Thugs is at best an inadequate word for the Shi'ite militiamen of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who have been battling the U.S. Thugs are what police deal with on city streets. But U.S. troops in Iraq aren't getting rolled for their wallets. Fighters using rocket-propelled grenades and firing at Apache helicopters are more than common thugs. These people are guerrillas, soldiers, insurgents, rebels or terrorists. Calling them thugs only downplays the difficulties in Iraq. Once President Bush and the American people realize we're not dealing with thugs, then maybe we can come up with the number...