Al-Sadr Fires 2 for Meeting US General

Al-Sadr Fires 2 for Meeting US General

www.townhall.com

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday fired two senior members of his movement after they met with the top U.S. military officer in Iraq, a lawmaker close to the anti-American cleric said.

Salam al-Maliki and Qusai Abdul-Wahab, members of parliament in al-Sadr's bloc, were having dinner at the home of former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Monday when Gen. David Petraeus, arrived, the legislator said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Al-Maliki and Abdul-Wahab did not leave the room when Petraeus walked in, he said. Al-Sadr has decreed that lawmakers from his bloc must not speak with U.S. officials and sacked the men when he heard of the infraction, the lawmaker told The Associated Press.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Could this be this be a crack in Al Sadr's armor, the events have conflicting stories but this could be a good sign that his power could be dimishing.

Let's hope this report is true and the Mahdi army fades away....

www.townhall.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I won't say that the Mahdi army is fading and I don't think this is a crack in the armor. I don't know how common things like this are. What I do think is that with as violent as that area is I think the two who got fired are lucky there were not just killed.

Why would you say that , 2 Generals are not like two insurgents, or are they? Al Sadr must have entrusted them with some power. If a general in his army means anything, they would not be easily replaced.

If it is just a title and nothing more than I guess they are lucky to escape with their lives.

Originally posted by RedGolem
I won't say that the Mahdi army is fading and I don't think this is a crack in the armor. I don't know how common things like this are. What I do think is that with as violent as that area is I think the two who got fired are lucky there were not just killed.

I believe what he meant was that he was surprised those men weren't killed by Al-Sadr or the Mahdi. I Think.

People like Al-Sadr, and probably any other leader of any government or any kind of organization do not like people from their country or organization talking to their "foes" without their knowledge for a bunch of reasons, unless directed by them to do so for them.

Just look at the ruckus Pelosi kicked up by taking things into her own hands and going to Syria.

I believe the number one problem that a leader would/does have with these sorts of of meeting is that it undermines their power with the people ("foes") that they are meeting with.

Originally posted by Keyhole
I believe the number one problem that a leader would/does have with these sorts of of meeting is that it undermines their power with the people ("foes") that they are meeting with.

Absolutely correct - and it is even more so with this situation of Pelosi going off on her own after President Bush froze high level contacts with Syria. While you may or may not agree with President Bush's decisions, it doesn't make a country 'look very good' if members of the congress (or any other governmental body) deliberately go against the President or Leader of a country in this manner.