Iraq: Al-Mahdi army offers to lay down its arms

[LavrentiBeria]

Originally Posted by InternetHero

He's also saying he might disband his militia and is basically begging for the Iraqi's and U.S. military to stop killing his militia men.

You're extremely naive. This is the Middle East, and deceit, cunning and backstabbing is the name of the game.

[busdriver01*]

Originally Posted by LavrentiBeria

You're extremely naive. This is the Middle East, and deceit, cunning and backstabbing is the name of the game.

This very well may be true, but who knows. As a laymen in terms of millitary stratagy, it sure seems like a show of weakness and defeat to me.

[InternetHero]

Originally Posted by LavrentiBeria

You're extremely naive. This is the Middle East, and deceit, cunning and backstabbing is the name of the game.

No offense but you're extremely unreasonable because you do not have a credible reason why it could be some "cunning super plan" and instead insist that it might be somehow despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

[LavrentiBeria]

Originally Posted by InternetHero

NAJAF, Iraq, April 7 (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will ask top Shi'ite religious leaders for advice on whether to disband his Mehdi Army militia, a senior Sadr aide told Reuters on Monday.

"If they order the Mehdi Army to disband, Moqtada al-Sadr and the Sadr movement will obey the orders of the religious leaders," said aide Hassan Zargani.

And if you believe that, I have a bridge you may be interested in buying.

Son, bullshit & deceit is time honored Arab tradition.

[DeadAndRestless]

You can't argue that al-Sadr's offer yesterday to disband his militias was a sign of his strength and confidence. There is really no argument for it.

He's showing weakness.

Or those top clerics basically told him to help drive the US out while public opinion was weak and throw some IEDs on the road. I mean, if you seriously think Al-Sadr's going to what is ostensibly the same as committing suicide, you're nuts.

[LavrentiBeria]

Originally Posted by InternetHero

No offense but you're extremely unreasonable because you do not have a credible reason why it could be some "cunning super plan" and instead insist that it might be somehow despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Sadr has Iran on his side. He's not "isolated". He's not weak.

[InternetHero]

Originally Posted by DeadAndRestless

Or those top clerics basically told him to help drive the US out while public opinion was weak and throw some IEDs on the road. I mean, if you seriously think Al-Sadr's going to what is ostensibly the same as committing suicide, you're nuts.

No what I "think" is what a lot of analysts are saying, which is that he made the offer because he's worried that the militias will be destroyed and that he can make a deal with the government now to help him keep power.

He's worried as hell he'll be locked out of the elections.

[InternetHero]

Originally Posted by LavrentiBeria

Sadr has Iran on his side. He's not "isolated". He's not weak.

Then where is Iran? They think it's cool for their proxy in Iraq to offer a surrender of their backed fighting force?

He must have slipped that idea behind their backs.

[DeadAndRestless]

No what I "think" is what a lot of analysts are saying, which is that he made the offer because he's worried that the militias will be destroyed and that he can make a deal with the government now to help him keep power.

Well, the deal with the initial cease fire in this recent exchange of violence was to essentially give him the ability to stay as a chief influence in the region. Since Maliki has second thoughts about that, he wants (again) to go after Al-Sadr and remove him permanently. It looks pretty much like Al-Sadr's ragtag boys are gonna be street fightin' once more, which is really not a positive for anyone.

He's worried as hell he'll be locked out of the elections.

Well yeah. He's also slightly worried about being captured and executed if he decides to capitulate totally, and that's not happening.

Then where is Iran? They think it's cool for their proxy in Iraq to offer a surrender of their backed fighting force?

Last week didn't happen?

[InternetHero]

Originally Posted by DeadAndRestless

Well, the deal with the initial cease fire in this recent exchange of violence was to essentially give him the ability to stay as a chief influence in the region. Since Maliki has second thoughts about that, he wants (again) to go after Al-Sadr and remove him permanently. It looks pretty much like Al-Sadr's tagtag boys are gonna be street fightin' once more, which is really not a positive for anyone.



Well yeah. He's also slightly worried about being captured and executed if he decides to capitulate totally, and that's not happening.



Last week didn't happen?

I disagree totally with your analysis and have already stated why with related articles.

So...

Here is a related question.

Why has Maliki shown such confidence in all his public statements and dealings with the government and why is the government acting in such uniformed fashion against Sadr and conversely why has Sadr looked so bad in his public statements? Is he showing a poor public front on purpose as part of a dastardly scheme or has Iran ordered it for an even more dastardly scheme?

Remember, the article... (And another article if you want me to try and track it down)

The articled stated that Sadr is rapidly losing support among the Shiite in both Sadr city and Baghdad. In addition to all Sadr's other problems. Is the article just wrong in its analysis?