Muqtada al-Sadr

[Ted Striker]

Well done Lord of the Mark

I also liked yet another Iraqi blogger criticizing Al Jazeera

[Berzerker]

Labor unions are instrumental in terms of developing a healthy middle-class dominated economy, and developing a civil society, both things Iraq desperately needs.

I'd say the GI Bill was much more instrumental... But neither were necessary. Economies advance when they are ~free to advance. And that means more and more people with specialised skills and that translates into wealth and a strong middle class. Unions have been on the decline in recent decades and the reason is they have been a drain ever since the world recovered from WWII...

As people become more specialised they demand more pay. But consider this, "supply-side" economics says reduce taxes, even for the rich, and that will "trickle-down" to the working class by spurring investment. Many liberals et al say this is nonsense, so what do they want? They want government, the epitome of rich, to "invest" in the economy. Hmm...

The US, BTW, has had legal labor unions for well over a century and a half, and they've played a huge role. Particularly since the Great Depression.

But you've repeatedly pointed out how unions were getting stomped on ~100 years ago. Since the Depression we had a few wars with the first devastating much of Europe's economy. Remove that much competition for US producers and labor unions are a luxury, not a necessity. Once the world recovers and has more options, our advantage disappears.

[Berzerker]

I just looked at the thread's title and realised my post has nothing to do with the subject

[The Mad Monk]

I think Sadr is done.

On the radio tonight, I heard that in addition to those who were caught smuggling arms out, several of his lieutenants were caught with several gold and silver items, roughly $40,000 in cash, and an eight hundred year old clay tablet.

All from the Shrine.

If true, this is a Very Bad Thing.

[Berzerker]

Ouch!!! I hope the Iraqis caught 'em and not us...

[Ted Striker]

Ouch!

This is the Abu Gharib scandal for Sadr

I agree Mad Monk, he is finished, it's just a matter of when.

[Agathon]

This is hilarious.

Al-Sadr has basically compelled Al-Sistani to become politically involved - thus turning the political climate of Shia Iraq more his way. And he's gotten away with it - again. I imagine that Sistani will try to back off from politics again, and Sadr will launch another campaign to force his hand again. This time I think it will be from Sadr city, which is not such an obvious target as the Imam Ali Mosque.

[The Mad Monk]

The looting has made it to the web:

Sistani Returns to Najaf

Naseer Al-Nahr

Arab News

NAJAF, Iraq, 26 August 2004 — Iraq’s top Shi'i cleric returned to the country yesterday and said he had a plan to end the fighting in the “burning city” of Najaf, as the crisis around one of its holiest shrine neared a climax.

Aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani said the cleric would unveil an initiative to get Shi'i fighters out of the revered Imam Ali Mosque. They gave no details. Sistani also called on Iraqis to march to Najaf to save it.

Sistani arrived in the southern city of Basra from Kuwait, having undergone heart treatment in London. He plans to head to Najaf today. Iraqi ministers and members of the national assembly held talks yesterday with Sistani on the Najaf conflict, a source close to the ayatollah’s representative in Basra said.

At the request of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Minister of State Kassem Daoud and Minister of State for the Provinces Wael Abdel Latif flew into Basra to meet with Sistani, the source said. They were accompanied by members of the newly elected Parliament, including Sheikh Hussein Al-Sadr, a distant relative of cleric and militia leader Moqtada Al-Sadr, who led a national conference peace delegation to Najaf last week. “The talks were positive and valuable and soon you will be hearing something cheerful,” Al-Sadr said. “Grand Ayatollah Sistani is to offer an initiative as soon as he’s in Najaf,” he added.

His return came as US and Iraqi forces tightened their grip around Mehdi Army of Al-Sadr holed up in the mosque, advancing to within 300 meters (yards) of the shrine.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Al-Sadr said that the Mehdi Army had lost control of significant parts of Najaf, following heavy US-led attacks in the Iraqi city. “It’s not like before. The area we control has significantly shrunk. They (the Americans) are trying to maintain their control on Najaf because they have failed everywhere else in Iraq,” Sheikh Ahmed Al-Shaibani said.

On the 21st day of fighting, US planes fired missiles within meters (yards) of the shrine. A US military plane launched air strikes last night on positions in Najaf held by the Mehdi Army, a witness said. The AC-130 gunship fired its cannon on positions near a shrine where the fighters are holed up.

US armor held the shrine in a pincer grip from the west and east and heavy artillery pounded areas to the south as snipers fired on all those coming or going from the shrine. The closest US vehicle was 20 meters (yards) from the western gate of the complex, one of the most important Shi'i sites in the world. All four gates of the compound were bolted by militiamen inside.

“We ask all believers to volunteer to go with us to Najaf,” Sistani said in a statement read out by his aide Hayder Al-Safi. “I have come for the sake of Najaf and I will stay in Najaf until the crisis ends.”

Sistani’s aides said he would leave for Najaf at 7 a.m. today with his supporters. They urged US forces encircling the gold-domed mosque to withdraw.

Al-Sadr has also called for his own followers to march on Najaf, sparking fears that the influx of thousands of rival Shi'a into the tense city could ignite renewed violence.

Police also arrested senior Al-Sadr aide Ali Sumeisim in Najaf, and said they had captured a number of Al-Sadr supporters who had stolen sacred items from the mosque. Al-Sadr’s aides denied the accusation, saying it was part of a smear campaign. Al Jazeera television said Mehdi fighters had seized two relatives of Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim Al-Shalaan, and had demanded that US forces leave Najaf and that police release Sumeisim.

Elsewhere, US aircraft attacked targets in the city of Fallujah yesterday, killing three people and wounding four, a hospital official said. Three others were killed and 10 wounded in gunfire and mortar attacks in a residential district of Kufa late yesterday, medical sources said.

— Additional input from Agencies

http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2004%20News%20archives/August/26n/Sistani%20Returns%20to%20Najaf.htm

Oddly enough, none of the major news organizations have brought up this small point, which could damge Sadr's reputation immensely. Oddly enough.

[Berzerker]

They are usually later than web sources since they ostensibly do better research. Give 'em a few days...

[Ramo]

I'd say the GI Bill was much more instrumental... But neither were necessary. Economies advance when they are ~free to advance. And that means more and more people with specialised skills and that translates into wealth and a strong middle class. Unions have been on the decline in recent decades

And working class real wages have declined in the past few decades. What a cooincidence.

and the reason is they have been a drain ever since the world recovered from WWII...

Not at all. The reason for their decline is an increase in state repression of them.

As people become more specialised they demand more pay. But consider this, "supply-side" economics says reduce taxes, even for the rich, and that will "trickle-down" to the working class by spurring investment. Many liberals et al say this is nonsense, so what do they want? They want government, the epitome of rich, to "invest" in the economy. Hmm...

According to generally accepted economic theories, both cutting taxes on the rich as well as gov't investment can spur the economy. However, the latter, properly targetted, can spur the economy much more rapidly.

But you've repeatedly pointed out how unions were getting stomped on ~100 years ago.

Yes. And much more recently than that. I've never asserted that they were completely legal or that they were never harrassed by the state.

Since the Depression we had a few wars with the first devastating much of Europe's economy.

Actually, the Depression-induced rapid increase in unions started several years before WW II.

Remove that much competition for US producers and labor unions are a luxury, not a necessity.

What does that mean? What makes them a luxury and not a necessity? And you do realize that there are unions and unionizing movements in other countries, don't you?

[Kidlicious]

IMO, union decline is a result of a reorganization of labor and outsorcing. The Unions just haven't been on the ball enough to ajust to the new economy, and people in smaller work units aren't as interested in unions.

[GePap]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Oddly enough, none of the major news organizations have brought up this small point, which could damge Sadr's reputation immensely. Oddly enough.

Oddly enough, you think that this news must be reported in the western media for it to reach Iraqis, which is the population amongst which this would have the most effect?

Sadr is finished by a long shot- the root of his support is there. He has to lay low for a few months, but his base is not damaged in the least by this, or by possible looting either. Were do you guys get your world view?

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by Kidicious
IMO, union decline is a result of a reorganization of labor and outsorcing. The Unions just haven't been on the ball enough to ajust to the new economy, and people in smaller work units aren't as interested in unions.

Bottom line is that they suck, and are still based on a 1970's, inflexible model and do more harm than good for their worker base.

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by GePap


Oddly enough, you think that this news must be reported in the western media for it to reach Iraqis, which is the population amongst which this would have the most effect?

Sadr is finished by a long shot- the root of his support is there. He has to lay low for a few months, but his base is not damaged in the least by this, or by possible looting either. Were do you guys get your world view?

Doesn't matter.

He's made enough slipups, the people are getting tired of him.

His main base in Sadr city loves him but that place has been spared the destruction of Najaf and Fallujah

[:) Smiley]

Where do you guys get your world view?

Here.