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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Sunday, June 15, 2008

What is Sadr up to?

After Friday's statements on reorganization, now we get this,
Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's followers won't field candidates under their movement's banner in upcoming provincial elections but will back sympathetic independents and candidates from other party lists, a spokesman said Sunday.

Later: Juan Cole has a few items on Sadr's intentions today.

1) According to Sadr sources, the new military structure is intended to rein in rogue commanders and guarantee that violence will be enacted only on US forces.

2) The new social/military structure is closer to that of Hezbullah.

3) The Sadr movement is claiming that they're not directly in the elections because they consider them illegitimate under US occupation, but I believe the more likely theory that they expect the elections to be fixed.

4) "At the same time, sources in the movement intimated that the newly formed special groups of the former Mahdi Army militia would begin striking soon."

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