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Anti-American Cleric to Followers: Stop Attacking US Troops So They’ll Leave Iraq

Anti American Cleric Muqtada al Sadr to Followers: Stop Attacking US Troops So Theyll Leave Iraq

Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to cease attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq so as not to delay the planned troop withdrawal. (AP Photo)

BAGHDAD (The Blaze/AP) — An anti-American cleric is urging his followers to stop attacking U.S. troops in Iraq so that their withdrawal from the country isn’t slowed down, a call meant to ramp up pressure on Baghdad’s political leaders who are considering asking some American forces to stay.

In a statement posted on his website, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his militias to halt attacks against U.S. forces till the withdrawal is finished at the end of the year as required under a security agreement between Washington and Baghdad.

“Out of my desire to complete Iraq’s independence and to finish the withdrawal of the occupation forces from our holy lands, I am obliged to halt military operations of the honest Iraqi resistance until the withdrawal of the occupation forces is complete,” al-Sadr said in the statement, posted late Saturday. Sadrist lawmaker Mushraq Naji confirmed the statement on Sunday.

However, al-Sadr warned that “if the withdrawal doesn’t happen … the military operations will be resumed in a new and tougher way.”

The statement followed last week’s notice by U.S. officials in Baghdad, announcing the start of the withdrawal.

There are currently about 45,000 U.S. forces in Iraq.

However, U.S. and Iraqi leaders are currently weighing whether some American troops should remain past the Dec. 31 deadline as Baghdad continues to struggle with instability and burgeoning influence from neighboring Iran. Last month, Iraqi leaders began negotiating with U.S. officials in Baghdad to keep at least several thousand troops in Iraq to continue training the nation’s shaky security forces.

Officials in Washington say President Barack Obama is willing to keep between 3,000 and 10,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. But with fewer than four months before the final deadline, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and parliament still have not indicated how many U.S. troops Iraq might need, how long they would stay, or exactly what they would be doing.

After more than eight years of war, many weary Iraqis are ready to see U.S. troops go, and staunchly defend their national sovereignty against an American force they see as occupiers. Al-Sadr’s followers vehemently oppose a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, and walked out of last month’s meeting where political leaders decided to open the talks on having American troops stay.

“Our goal has been always to fight the occupiers because they are still in our country,” Naji said Sunday.

Still, other Iraqi officials privately say they want American troops to continue training the nation’s security forces for months, if not years, to come. The president of Iraq’s northern Kurdish region this week pleaded for U.S. forces to stay to ward off threats of renewed sectarian violence.

Many Iraqis – both Sunnis and Shiites – share that fear.

“As for me, and the sheiks of Nasiriyah, we want the U.S. Army to stay,” Sheik Manshad al-Ghezi of the southern Shiite city of Nasiriyah said in a recent interview. “We are afraid of civil war. All the parties and groups in Iraq are armed and the Iraqi Army cannot manage to bring security to Iraq and stop the fighting among these parties.”

In another statement posted Sunday, a Shiite militia controlled by Iran jeered calls for U.S. troops to stay. The group ridiculed a warning last week by Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani that raised the specter of civil war if American forces leave Iraq. Kurds have long depended on U.S. troops to protect them, going back to Saddam Hussein’s rule.

“When the [U.S.] occupation gets out of the country with his agents, the Iraqi nation will be unified,” an unidentified leader for Kataib Hezbollah, which operates in Iraq, wrote on the militia’s website. “Whoever calls for keeping the occupation is linking his destiny with the occupation and has sold himself as cheap, and he should leave the country with his masters.”

Comments (87)

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  • cyclops
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:25pm

    I think we are fighting a planarian worm. The only way to kill it is to dissect it and incinerate the parts because if you don’t, it will regenerate again and again……

    Report Post » cyclops  
    • TXPilot
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 4:07pm

      @CYCLOPS…..you have it right, since the followers of Islam as a whole are a cancer upon this world, and as everyone knows, with cancer, if you don’t destroy every single cell, it’s going to come back again and again.

      Report Post » TXPilot  
    • ShamanWorld
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 4:33pm

      C’mon guys,it’s their land. What would you do if you were in their shoes. Ron Paul 2012

      Report Post » ShamanWorld  
    • chazman
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 5:39pm

      … I thought we killed this POS …

      Report Post »  
    • Hobbs57
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:52pm

      @ Chazman – I did too ! What I really can‘t understand is WHY can’t these people train and maintain an armed force to defend their country. I mean really, how long have we been their training these guys. Why can’t they build a sustainable force capable of defending themselves ??

      Report Post » Hobbs57  
  • GulfPeg
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:25pm

    Duh! Are they finally realizing that after all of these years?

    Report Post »  
  • momprayn
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:21pm

    I support a few ministries in Israel and get reports/magazines and my latest one says:
    “Iraq’s military is a “rag-tag” militia…It will be incapable of standing up against Iran and home-grown Shiite militias when the U.S. leaves Iraq, and many Iraqis in power want the U.S. military out of the country by the end of 2011, with no extensions…” They expect them to be overrun by Iran after we leave. None of this should be surprising.
    Yes, I’m as patriotic as anyone, but unfortunately I’m for bringing our troops home – all. I really think Bush/Cheney Admin. thought they were doing the right thing and love this country — but think we should have come back after bringing Saddam down. They are under that “American” naive, ignorant, foolish belief that we can go into these Muslim countries and “nation build” and make them like us (not want to destroy Israel) — NOT. They can never be a “democratic republic” b/c of their religion. They’ll end up like Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood takes over. Common sense and history tells you that.
    When they used the mantra we needed to go there and fight terror so we wouldn’t have to fight it here was…..erroneous. We already have it HERE and that is not being acknowledged – about the infiltration of the Muslims into our society backed by the Muslim Brotherhood with the intention of taking us over at the “opportune time”. So many are gullible and believe them when they say they are harmless and peaceful. NOT

    Report Post »  
    • wordweaver
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:56pm

      I agree wholeheartedly. We need to stop pouring money and lives into a cause that will ultimately become a theocracy or a new dictatorship.

      Report Post » wordweaver  
  • LadyIzShy
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:17pm

    bring our troops home if they continue to be terrorist against the USA or our allies level them. I never used to fell this way but im sorry to say I do now. I am sick of our good men and women paying the price for this war. I agreed with teh wars and still do IF we could FIGHT to win and NOT just to make eveyone happy

    Report Post » LadyIzShy  
  • Rational Man
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:15pm

    I agree with the cleric to some degree. They should play nice and behave so the powers that be will finally decide to bring our people home. Then they can go back to killing eachother to their black hearts content with no interference from us.
    Because no matter how long we stay there and no matter what we do, that outcome will be the same. The only difference being the number of American lives lost for nothing!
    (not to mention we can’t afford it)

    Report Post » Rational Man  
  • JQCitizen
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:12pm

    This their “wait it out” technique; seeded to them by our President who signaled to them this policy, only for his own political gain. HE CARES NOTHING for the consequences, or whether any of the few remaining troops who will be picked off.

    No skin off his back !!!

    Report Post »  
  • georgiavietvet
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:08pm

    this is nothing more than a punk terrorist. he should have been killed a long time ago. there is still time to get it done. no time like the present. kill him…………………………………..

    Report Post »  
  • modilly
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:53pm

    This is the guy responsible for killing the contractors and hanging them on the bridge. There was a murder warrant out for his arrest but George W. decided to treat him like a legitimate leader and called it off. All this in our non-declared war that is not a war but “building democracy” for a bunch of neanderthals who don’t want it while we waste precious American lives. How long will we put up with this unconstitutional nonsense?

    Ron Paul !!!!

    Report Post » modilly  
  • cknapp
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:53pm

    I like it when they attack, as with gophers, they are easier to k!ll when they pop their heads up.

    Craig Knapp
    SFC, USA

    Report Post »  
  • last frontier
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:45pm

    Somebody has been using Obamas telepromptor again.

    Report Post » last frontier  
  • AB5r
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:38pm

    This reveals perfectly the utter abject stupidity of our being there in the first place.

    Report Post » AB5r  
    • JLGunner
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:21pm

      Have you noticed the cultural jihad going on in America? I agree we need to leave there but that only is so we can regroup and prepare for the next surge from the middle east. You might want to reconsider burying your head in the sand because we’re about to run out of sand. When the wolf growls at the door you had better be ready to answer.

      Report Post » JLGunner  
    • AB5r
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:49pm

      The problem we have is we are allowing Islam in the West. If we keep Islam out of the West then we can very easily attack and utterly destroy, with zero mercy, any country, leader, area, where Muslims are causing trouble for us. Our problem is that as time goes by there will be so many Muslims in the West that we will essentially be a Muslim country and it will be 100% impossible to fight so-called terror because we won’t be able to destroy our own cities which will be full of Muslims. We should have destroyed what we had to destroy in Afghanistan and Iraq and then LEFT. IT WAS, AND IT REMAINS, INSANE TO BE WASTING TIME, LIVES, LIMBS, BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, TRYING TO BUILD UP OR HELP OR DEMOCRATIZE LANDS ALREADY FALLEN TO ISLAM. OUR SOLDIERS ARE IN THOSE LANDS SHOWING SPECIAL DEFERENCE AND RESPECT TO ISLAM AND THE KORAN, THAT MAKES THEM SUBSERVIENT DHIMMIS.

      Report Post » AB5r  
    • bioengineer
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 8:45pm

      @AB5R, another internet coward calling for the systematic murder of Muslims, I‘m sure you’re mommy would be proud! Hiel, hiel! Hey, how come you aren’t putting your money where your mouth is? Plenty of Muslim targets in the USA to attack… Anders Breivik already got the ball rolling in Europe, I‘m sure he’d love some American followers. After all, his manifesto was based almost entirely on US-based sources. I’m sure @Steve would be willing to join your little band of cowards. Actually, half the people on here probably would. Not even a straight jacket could fix your problems!

      Report Post »  
    • AB5r
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 9:04pm

      Bio, learn to read, you are suffering from paranoid delusions if you see anyone calling for the murder of Muslims. Muslims suffer enough being Muslim, why kill them and put them out of their misery? Just keep them out of the West so they don’t destroy our lives and civilization also.

      Report Post » AB5r  
  • tomloy
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:32pm

    Duh! The longer you attack american soldiers, the longer they’ll be there.

    Report Post »  
    • YepImaConservative
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:38pm

      In 2009 anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday urged reprisals against American forces in Iraq to protest Israel’s Gaza offensive, as Arab anger grows over civilian deaths in the Palestinian territory.

      The strongly worded statement signaled a threat by al-Sadr’s militia fighters to [renew violence against American troops] after months of relative calm.

      Report Post » YepImaConservative  
    • YepImaConservative
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:41pm

      Al-Sadr and his militiamen have been staunch opponents of the U.S. presence in Iraq and waged fierce battles in 2004 followed by years of sectarian violence. He ordered his fighters to stand down in 2007 but retained a smaller force.

      Report Post » YepImaConservative  
    • YepImaConservative
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:42pm

      He’s got American blood on his hands. We need to kill him before we leave.

      Report Post » YepImaConservative  
  • Roros
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:16pm

    Your Holy Land is dark, God of Israel is light, Light kills Dark leave America now, or give up your Virgins to Americans.

    Report Post »  
  • tmkphx1962
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:11pm

    I say pull out and let them kill each other.

    Report Post »  
  • Tribal Warrior
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:06pm

    The guy is not stupid, he knows if they can get Americans out of the country, then Radical Muslims can set up shop to gain more control over the region for its’ assault on Israel in the coming years.

    Report Post »  
  • OldVietVet
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:03pm

    5 minutes after we leave tribal religious warfare will resume and Iran will take over the whole region!–and they’re gonna take Israel on–again!
    It could lead to “the big one”!

    Report Post » OldVietVet  
    • GBMBulletsSKNRD
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:26pm

      Yep

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:33pm

      That‘s the plan now isn’t it … Obama’s announced withdrawl “strategy”.

      Report Post »  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:29pm

      @OldVietVet — That is their grand strategy. Look at what each seeks to gain in this unholy alliance.

      Muslum Brotherhood: Restoration of the Ottoman Caliphate, centered in Jerusalem.

      Iran: Their President, the lunatic Abemejek (or something like that), gets his bloodshed to usher in the mad dream of the 12th Imadi.

      Both: Destruction of Israel and the annhilation of her people.

      Soros: Destabalization in the area for his maximum utilization for profits.

      Obama: Assistance from Radical Islam in the destabalization of the USA, playing them off against the useful idiots of the unions and the other extremists; even as they are playing him.

      All the Above: One enraged God of Israel and America who will unleash his wrath upon them in the full measure alloted.

      Rigth now, I honestly believe the only reason God is not doing the stomp, stomp, stomp movement on the enemies of the USA and Israel is due to his own people growing to their fullest character in His image for the world to see and know — which of those in the world are in darkness, and which for the light.

      The time for all hades to break loose is nearly at hand; I do not say this will be the battle of the bible known as Armagheddon, it could be, yet if not, there will be much blood shed.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Taquoshi
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 8:46pm

      They want a stone age way of life, with only the elite leaders having modern conveniences, like cell phones, computer access, refrigeration and clean water. Hey, you know, I’m all for letting them kill each other off and sending the ones that have immigrated to the West back home. If they want their way of life so bad, they can have it.

      Report Post » Taquoshi  
  • Libby Tarian
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:59pm

    He is not missing any meals! His problem is adipose tissue on the brain. Or maybe just because he is a Muslim. His book the Qur’an tells him to hate and kill and tax to death the infidels if they will not convert to Islam. Any takers? It sounds like a really boring religion. All hate and tense like.

    Report Post » Libby Tarian  
  • Azreal
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:57pm

    We should have left two days after Sadam was hung.

    Let them sort it out, and stop this stupid nation building.

    And if you believe in nation building, hear me clearly YOU ARE NOT A CONSERVATIVE. You are no different than a socialist. You think that people should be made to do something, and that you know better than them, and most importantly, you have to say that might makes right. These are NOT conservative values.

    As for the dirty “cleric”, big deal. Let his own people bow to him or kill him. Doesn’t matter to me.

    Report Post » Azreal  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 3:35pm

      I agree with much of what you posted, but I also fully understand the compassionate humanitarian side of the arguement too. Problem is, they will never stop killing eachother and the region will never be stable. It is not in their DNA.
      I didn’t have a problem taking out Saddam. But as you said, we should have left them to sort it out from there. And any other problems concerning Israel or our national security could be dealt with by way of ballistic missles and stealth air strikes. If they want their country to be turned into a dead zone for the next 10,000yrs for the sake of allah, then so be it!
      As a side note;
      If we spent more money on developing our own energy instead of nation building for oil in countries that hate us, we would be much better off.
      AND STOP GIVING THOSE CRAZY PEOPLE MONEY!!
      Our foriegn policy needs an extreme makeover!

      Report Post » Rational Man  
  • spirited
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:57pm

    With such vest-ed interest,
    –Lead by example

    >Anyone know what size cleric Muqtada al-Sadr wears?

    Report Post » spirited  
  • shirtsbyeric
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:55pm

    Is that Paul Krugman?

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:54pm

    Fine, we are constantly being told we are not wanted there; so get our boys and girls home now and leave the place to their own choices. Enough is enough, get them home now.
    http://artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (cat folk art — new art)

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • YepImaConservative
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:50pm

    We had the opportunity to take this turd out in the first days of the slapping around of Iraq’s surrender monkeys and it was discussed… but alas, we didn’t want to look like we were targeting Clerics. What a mistake.

    Report Post » YepImaConservative  
  • Kona HI
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:46pm

    If this thug wasn’t so slow on the uptake we could have been out of there years ago.

    Report Post »  
  • righthanddrive
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:44pm

    Ha ha ha. Give this guy a Spud (I know he will not drink alcohol)! He recognizes that in about 15 months the probability of a change in the US C-in-C is highly probable and that the new C-in-C could very well send the region back to the Paleolithic age if they do not get their act in order. Hopefully folks listen to him and our guys can come home and THEN we send the region back to sometime before the dinosaurs should they misbehave again.

    Report Post »  
  • SREGN
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:43pm

    What they need are anger management classes.

    Report Post »  
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