Word: sadr
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...speaks from experience. Mohammed's family fled its home in Baladiat, in northeastern Baghdad, in the aftermath of the Samarra blast. Once a mainly Sunni enclave adjoining the Shi'ite district of Sadr City, Baladiat gradually turned into a mixed neighborhood after the fall of Saddam Hussein. "We made lots of friends among the Shi'ites," Mohammed says. "On their festivals, we would invite them to feasts at our home." The day after the shrine bombing, he was at work when his uncle called. "He said, 'Come home at once.' He sounded frightened." But Mohammed was on duty and could...
...Despite waging two insurrections against U.S. forces and antagonizing some more powerful Shi'ite leaders, Sadr has emerged not only as the kingmaker within the dominant Shi'ite parliamentary alliance, but also as potentially the most important bridge between Shi'ite and Sunni militants. The events of the past week saw him take a major role in the parliament of the streets which rapidly eclipsed the tortuous negotiations of elected legislators: Sadr's followers are reported to have been in the forefront of attacks on Sunnis in the 24 hours that followed the Samarra bombing, while their leader was away...
...Sadr immediately demanded restraint, and sent representatives to huddle with leaders of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical body with ties to the insurgency. That move, and talk of joint action to protect holy places, underlined Sadr's ability to reach out to at least some Sunnis-not least because of nationalist credentials built by his confrontations with U.S. forces, and also by his firm rejection of the SCIRI proposal for a southern Shi'ite mini-state...
...essence, Sadr appears to be betting that Shi'ite and Sunni Iraqis mistrust the U.S. more than they mistrust each other, a not unreasonable assumption. Indeed, both Shi'ites and Sunnis on the streets tend to blame the U.S. presence for the mounting sectarian discord; opinion polls have long found a majority of Iraqis wanting Coalition forces to leave. The parties of the dominant Shi'ite alliance are formally committed to a similar position, although in reality they're in no hurry to face the security consequences of a hasty U.S. departure. Still, Sadr's game plan may include championing...
...vehemence about getting the U.S. out, Sadr may be inclined to hedge his bets. On the one hand he is warning Iraqis that the greatest danger they face is posed by the presence of ?the occupation forces"; on the other hand he appears to be qualifying that demand with the rider, "even if on their own timetable." That may sound like a contradiction. Or it may just be a sign that Sadr has learned better than most of his peers in Iraq's political class that avoiding disaster in Iraq will require, above all, a great degree of flexibility...