Re: [Marxism] "Fallujah stands by Najaf against America": protests across Iraq

[<g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Fred

The silence from al-Sistani is very significant, is it not?
His prestige and authority is right on the line.  He took off
to London to get out of the way and to allow the Americans to
finish off al-Sadr.  But the fact that he is on holiday in
Britain at all, is surely a black mark against him with the
Shia.

What happens now is anyone's guess.

It is unity betwen the sunni and hte Shia that will defeat
the imperialist push.  That is very clear.  Whether it can be
achieved is another quesiton.  Certainly yo are correct, I
think, about the significance of the pro-Sadr demo in
Fallujah.

I often think that if one steps back from one's revolutionary
consciousness, then one can regain something of the sense of
how outrageous events, such as what is happening in Najaf,
really are.  The problem with we Marxists, is that we do not
expect anything from the enemy.

But by bourgeois standards, how can the attack on the Shia be
even remotely justified?  WMD, getting rid of Saddam,
building democracy, threat to the West - none of that cant
applies even remotely.

The latest line that "criminal elements" have infiltrated the
Mahdi army is particularly pathetic.

The Americans are slaughtering the poor of the slums, who
with no tanks, planes, or helicipoters, or body armour have
taken up rifles to defend their country and sacred sites
against the most powerful army in the world.

These though are the blows that will not break the back of
the people of Iraq.

That the Americans will learn to their cost.

regards

Gary



---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 14:36:13 -0400
>From: "Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: [Marxism] "Fallujah stands by Najaf against
America": protests across Iraq
>To: "mxmail" <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <ufpj-
news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>The most important protest was probably the one in
Fallujah.  The  US
>game plan seems to be to beat down  Sadr in Najaf, then in
Baghdad, and
>then move on the Sunni resistance in Fallujah.  Fortunately,
the Sunnis
>and Shias seem to be getting the hang-together-or-hang-
separately
>message as they did during the last upsurge.
>
>The high council of Sunni religious leaders has also
condemned the US
>attack on Najaf.
>
>The latest reports are that the US has halted fighting again
to allow
>negotiations.  The delays are clearly forced on them by the
resistance,
>but each delay so far buys time for the protests to spread
and the
>resistance to toughen.  In  raw military power, Washington
CAN crush
>Sadr's forces in Najaf.  But can they pay the ever-rising
price of
>"victory"?
>Fred Feldman
>
>
>Protests erupt across Iraq over Najaf
>Fri 13 August, 2004 12:27
>
>BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Mass protests against the U.S. assault
on the sacred
>
>Shi'ite Muslim city of Najaf have broken out in five Iraqi
cities, with
>some
>demonstrators calling for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
to step
>down.
>
>In one of the biggest protests on Friday, enraged Iraqis in
the southern
>town
>of Diwaniya swarmed over the local office of his political
party,
>ripping
>down signs and throwing rocks.
>
>A military offensive by U.S. and Iraqi forces against
militiamen of
>radical
>Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has inflamed passions among
Iraq's
>majority
>Shi'ites.
>
>Thousands also protested in central Baghdad, Kufa and
Samawa. The
>military
>campaign infuriated residents of the Sunni-dominated town of
Falluja, a
>hotbed
>of resistance.
>
>About 3 thousand demonstrators marched in the centre of
Falluja carrying
>
>pictures of Sadr and placards denouncing the U.S. bombing of
Najaf,
>where the
>cleric and his followers are surrounded.
>
>"Long live Sadr. Falluja stands by Najaf against America,"
the
>demonstrators
>shouted.
>
>
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