Word: sadr
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...soldiers were segregated to write their accounts of the incident. "We never heard either way what the results of the investigation were," says Ben. Another soldier in the unit, who asked not to be named, confirmed most of Ben's story and says Australian soldiers later traveled to the Sadr City hospital where the woman had been taken and arranged her transfer to a U.S. military hospital...
SIIC has other reasons to dislike the vetoed legislation. A more powerful central government, as set out in the Provincial Powers law, would further benefit Sadr's bloc, which has its power base in central Iraq around Baghdad. SIIC's strength lies in Iraq's oil-rich southern provinces; thus a looser federation, with maximum autonomy for the regions, benefits it most...
...quibble about constitutional law. The dissenting vote on the Presidential Council was cast by Vice President Adel Abdul-Medhi whose Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) is the Shi'a power bloc with relatively closer ties to the U.S. than the rival party run by Shi'ite strongman Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads the contentious, trigger-happy Mahdi Army. Abdul-Medhi said that the Provincial Powers law contravened the constitutional right of voters of each province to elect their own governor (a sort of states rights versus federal powers argument, in American constitutional parlance...
...dramatic veto, however, masked SIIC's weakness. It has been the dominant party in the country's south since the elections of 2005, which Sadr boycotted. SIIC, however, has squandered its mandate and has been unable to deliver services and improvements to its constituents. With Sadr now planning to run a slate of candidates there in elections originally scheduled for this October, SIIC fears that the implementation of the Provincial Powers law will only further weaken its hold on the south, especially if a strengthened central government can swoop in and remove inimical SIIC governors. The polls, which will elect...
Brookings Institution Middle East scholar Michael O'Hanlon is optimistic that the Iraqis can figure it out. "I'm going to hold out hope that the system can fix this," he says, adding that the legislation has a powerful ally. "Sadr believes it's in his interest." Just a week ago, the leader of the Mahdi Army ordered a continuation of a six-month old ceasefire that has been key to recent security improvements in the capital. It's better for everyone if these power sharing arrangements can be negotiated in parliament than on the battlefield...