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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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    How does the United States view Muqtada al-Sadr?

    Rocky
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    How does the United States view Muqtada al-Sadr? Empty How does the United States view Muqtada al-Sadr?

    Post by Rocky Wed 24 Aug 2022, 7:13 am

    [size=38]How does the United States view Muqtada al-Sadr?[/size]


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    BAGHDAD/Obebe: Two days after protesters stormed the Iraqi parliament in July, a group called "The Companions of the Cave" released a statement reflecting the political collapse in Iraq.
    On August 1, the group said that "the US embassy, ​​the British embassy and other NATO countries" had provoked unrest among Iraq's Shiites, and "all their embassies and bases will be targeted" in return.
    The issued statement shed light on many factors influencing Iraq, where the country's main Shiite blocs are locked in a bitter power struggle after the collapse of 10 months of talks aimed at forming a government.
    The confrontation is between the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr, who emerged as the biggest winner in the October Iraqi elections, against a coalition of Shiite parties.
    The crisis escalated in June after al-Sadr withdrew the parliament's bloc of representatives and asked his supporters to storm Iraq's Green Zone, the country's isolated center of power.
    For more than two weeks, thousands of Sadrists have camped outside parliament as their mercurial leader calls for an overhaul of the country's political system, new elections and possibly a new constitution.
    Far from demonstrating Washington's ability to lead events in Iraq, analysts and former US officials say, the current crisis signals a waning US power and interest in the country.
    Douglas Silliman, president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC and a former US ambassador to Iraq, told Middle East Eyes.
    Washington is certainly less prominent in Iraq today than it has been in decades. While 2,500 US troops remain in Iraq, the Pentagon's combat mission to defeat ISIS late last year shifted to an "advise and assist" role in support of the Iraqi military. This low profile extended beyond the martial realm.
    Iraq hosted only two high-profile US government visits in the months following the country's October elections. Meanwhile, the sprawling US embassy has been staffed since 2019, when the US ordered all "non-emergency" staff to leave Iraq amid security threats.
    "US involvement in the Iraqi political process has been almost completely absent," Jonathan Lord, a former Iraqi director at the Department of Defense and current director of the Middle East Security Program at CNAS, a Washington think tank, told Middle East Eyes.
    Some consider the past 10 months a missed opportunity for the United States. Washington welcomed with great concern what was generally seen as a peaceful election, albeit with a record low turnout, as the large political parties demonstrated their strength.
    But there were some signs of progress. The United States supported changes to a law that would make it easier for independent and reformist candidates to be elected. The move came in response to the October protests that swept Iraq in 2019.
    Some independent candidates were voted on, but al-Sadr made the biggest gains under the new regime.
    "The election result was very satisfactory for Washington," Silliman said, however. "The United States saw the elections as a relatively good sign that Iraq was moving toward more stable institutional politics and producing more moderate governments."
    There is little love between the United States and al-Sadr, an Iranian-educated cleric who led an armed resistance movement against the American occupation. But in recent years, Sadr has described himself as an Iraqi nationalist. It is seen by some in Washington as a potential hedge against Tehran, despite concerns about his thirst for power and his goals for a theocracy.
    “The United States sees al-Sadr as a fickle nationalist with a huge base. He is seen as someone who needs to be directed in a direction beneficial to the United States, and that is what the United States has tried to do, and will continue to do." Laheeb Hegel, Iraq analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Middle East Eyes.
    The United States has limited scope for dialogue with al-Sadr. While the Sadrists in the Iraqi government deal with Western officials, they refuse to speak directly to the United States. Communication is left to the intermediaries.
    Analysts and former US officials said that Washington's main political effort in Iraq after the October elections revolved around trying to mediate talks between the KDP and the Kurdistan Party to agree on a consensus candidate for the presidency.
    Iraq operates under a sectarian power-sharing system imposed after the US occupation. The president of Iraq is always Kurdish, the prime minister is a Shiite Arab, and the speaker of parliament is a Sunni Arab.
    "The reason we haven't seen a lot of talk about the United States in the political process in Iraq is simply because they don't have a big role, and they didn't want to," Hagel said.
    After the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq descended into civil war. Then ISIS invaded large swathes of the country. The economy also faltered.
    About 90 percent of the Iraqi government's revenue comes from oil sales. Private sector growth suffers from anemia. Endemic corruption means that ordinary Iraqis have seen little respite from high crude oil prices, while food and other living costs have risen, exacerbated in part by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
    Translator from Middle East Eye
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