Meet the new Ayatollah Of Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

Undated file photo of Iraq (news - web sites)'s most revered Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has refused to support the U.S. plan for regional caucuses to select a transitional assembly that will pick an interim government for sovereignty by July and demanded direct elections. Iraq's U.S. Governor Paul Bremer consulted with President Bush (news - web sites) on Friday as the United States acted to smooth over a dispute with Iraq's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric on Friday, saying it was willing to make changes to its plan to hand political power to Iraqis. REUTERS/Str

[NNN0LHI]

1. Here is Chimpy telling Bremer he don't like the new Ayatollah

President Bush (news - web sites) meets with Chief U.S. administrator Paul Bremer in the Oval Office of the White House Friday, Jan. 16, 2004. L. Bremer offered to revise a U.S. plan for self-rule in Iraq (news - web sites), but said the June 30, 2004, deadline for ending the U.S. occupation must stand. (AP Photo/Paul Morse, White House)

[slor]

2. Actually * is saying...

"please stand still while I try to get into an important looking pose, we got some photo-oping to do".

[supercrash]

3. This is old news...

I could have told you months ago there would be no direct elections...We are about to see the Shia join the resistance...hold on

[patricia92243]

4. Bush has created a Frankenstein's monster. Iraq would be so much better

off if we had just left them alone to kill Saddam if that is what THEY wanted. In the meantime I'm afraid we are going to be responsible for putting a cleric in charge - which will mean slavery for the Iraqi women and more hate for the USA.

Thank you Mr. Bush! :(

[kentuck]

5. And Bremer is in Washington on a "special" trip..

He doesn't come to Washington unless there is big trouble on the horizon. The Ayatollah is uniting most of the country against the American occupation, especially in the more peaceful South of Iraq. hey have had very troubling demonstrations there in the last couple of weeks. Put some lipstick on that pig and call it Bridgette Bardo.

[Cat Atomic]

6. This little humor piece becomes more and more prophetic:

http://www.theonion.com/onion3911/pt_the_war_on_iraq.html

Sad that the people at The Onion (and half the population) are more astute than the self-proclaimed "experts".

[brainwashed_youth]

7. Iraq...

is going to turn into the next Iran. I thought one of the things we didn't want is fanatical Shi'ite Muslim rule

[supercrash]

8. Well....

"Fanatical" is to strong a word to describe Sistani, the guy isn't a crazy terrorist...he is a well respected cleric

[kentuck]

12. And that is exactly what the WH is trying to tell the people....

Yeah, he's a Shiite Ayatollah but he's not like other ayatollahs...? Uh-huh. He's really for an American style democracy. He believes in equal rights for women and free speech. He also supports capitalist markets. Yeah, he's not so bad. Right?

[oldcoot]

14. He has been pressuring the White House for elections

He claims to want the direct election of a national government. He also wants elected representatives to decide whether or not U.S. troops stay in Iraq. I do not know if he is sincere in his desire to see Iraq become a democracy or if he is just interested in getting more power for himself.

However, I am glad that he is putting pressure on the Bush administration for elections. While Bush has stated that he wants Iraq to become democracy, the administration has done little to promote democracy in Iraq. The U.S. Army even cancelled municipal elections last June. This is unfortunate because we could have used municipal elections to introduce the Iraqis to democracy.

I do not know if the ayatollah believes in equal rights for women or free speech but I do not know if the Bush administration believes in those things either.

Here are a couple of links if you want to read more about him: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/13/1073877833585.html and http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/12/1073877765499.html .

[kentuck]

16. Direct elections?

He's calling their bluff. If they refuse to permit direct elections, who looks like they are against democracy in Iraq?

[DinahMoeHum]

9. Well, hah hah, too bad. After all over five decades of. . .

playing footsie with dictators in Iran and Iraq, the Repukes are gonna get stuck up with the enema of having fundamentalist Islamic Republics in both countries.

Couldn't happen to a better group of people.

"Who Lost Iraq" - Bwahahahahaaa!!


:evilgrin:

[Cleita]

10. Maybe this is what the Bush administration wants, religious rule

no matter whom, as long as the populations are kept under control. When do we get Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson as our President after the merger of Church and State is accomplished? The faith based initiatives is a beginning.

[cliss]

11. According to reports,

the US is afraid of a Shi'Ite uprising more than anything else. The Shi'Ites are the majority, and the US is trying to placate them, and at the same time avoid angering the many cultural and religious groups in Iraq. The whole thing is like a big powderkeg, ready to blow. The US needs to be delicate and try to keep everything together and not risk alienating any groups and thereby creating more sympathy and support for them. The enemy of your enemy, and so on.

And we're so good at delicate negotiations!

This new Ayatollah looks exactly like the Ayatollah of Iran. He also looks very pissed. Not a good sign.

[Aidoneus]

13. I like his beard more than Khomeini's

otherwise they have little in common. That beard is truly a work of art.

If any Iraqi Ayatallah resembles Khomeini's platform it'd be Kazim al-Haeri, but he remains in his place of exile for the time being.

[veracity]

15. actually.....he's very respected

Sistani is highly respected by Shia and Suni Moslems alike. The problem is that we KNEW (those of us who were against the war) that the alternative to Saddam's Ba'athist rule was a fundamentalist Shia state, similar to that in Iran. So why is this a surprise? The Shia are the majority and they know it. They want an Islamic state under Koran rule. Wait....the Kurds are grumbling, too. Bremer is in a quandary...and that's why he's running to the UN. He'll blame them for what happens. Fun time ahead.