Sunday, April 11, 2004
This Washington Post backgrounder on the current outbreak of violence in Iraq tries hard to put the blame on the back of the Occupation Authority. The feeling I get, however, is one of inevitability - that the clashes, both in Fallujah and with Sadr were bound to happen sooner or later, and that no matter when they did, there would have been some proximate cause pointed to as blame. In this case, that cause is the shutting of the Sard newspaper and the arrest of his deputy, but the fact is, such steps were inevitable. The article also fails to make any mention of Sadr's ties to Iran. Analytical quibbles aside, this is still a good time line piece.
U.S. Targeted Fiery Cleric In Risky Move (washingtonpost.com)
A month later, on March 28, Bremer ordered the weekly paper shut down. According to U.S. officials, Bremer believed that after months of waiting, the moment was right to pressure Sadr to capitulate to American demands to disband his growing militia, which had attacked American troops in the past.
But instead of relenting, Sadr and his supporters responded with protests, the seizure of government buildings and a spate of violent attacks. He unleashed a major revolt in Shiite-dominated parts of Baghdad and southern Iraq that has become the gravest challenge to the U.S. occupation...
