Iraq's top Shiite cleric refuses to meet Bremer

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=274021&lang=e&dir=news

<snip>Speaking to people gathered for Friday prayers, the spokesman noted that the Iraqi cleric refuses any meeting with the American governer, Paul Bremer, or any other American official. "Americans are not trustworthy, because they have occupied Iraq," he said.

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[LittleApple81]

1. Well, what can we say? He is right. n/t

[leftchick]

2. no argument here...

Clue to murkians.... the US are Occupiers!

[xchrom]

3. bremer has failed.

here's hoping he gets a clue.

[teryang]

4. Situation deteriorating rapidly

The occupation infrastructure is being effectively isolated.

[alcuno]

5. Why aren't we paying this guy off?

At this point, the U.S. has invested over 150 billion dollars in Iraq. I don't understand. Is it possible that we didn't buy this guy's cooperation a long time ago? If not then show him the money. Do I think everyone can be bought? Pretty much.

[NNN0LHI]

6. It works like this. He has two options

He could take a few million dollar pay off now and be known as a whore for America. Or he could wait us out and then be in full control of trillions of dollars worth of oil and then be his own man. Which option would you choose if you had the same two choices?

As you decide which option you would choose, keep in mind that Saddam took option #1 and then think about where that got him.

Don

[homelandpunk]

11. Exactly. Plus he would not get to enjoy his millions from the infidels

once it became known. He would meet Allah very quickly. And here is a thought: MAYBE there are real, devout muslims who are more concerned with Allah's judgment than with mundane, fleeting, temporary riches, and maybe this cleric is in that category.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. "A carpet of gold, or a carpet of bombs"?

Oh, wait, that was Afghanistan. Wrong war....

[Aidoneus]

8. an insult like that would probably just set him off in the opposite path

with a nod he can put half a million people on the streets, but he does not use this to live his own life extravagantly. It is not surprising that there are those in this country who don't understand this. :eyes:

[alcuno]

9. First of all, I'd be amazed if we didn't do this ahead of time.

It makes no sense to invade a country where the clerics can call jihad and many people fall in line when you don't know what the clerics are going to say.

Do I think that everyone can be bought? Probably. However, I see a difference between paying someone to do something and paying them NOT to do something. Yes, I've seen how modestly Sistani lives but the truth is that money can buy power and influence.

I'm just amazed that we didn't buy his cooperation. Would it be an insult? I guess that depends on the cost.

[PurityOfEssence]

12. That's Republican thinking; much as I dislike religion, you can't buy off

the truly faithful, especially when it's a religion with that pesky "afterlife" stuff. We can increase the bounty on Bin Laden's head to $50M (as we just did, doubling it) and it still won't help. Somehow Republicans never get this, because their true god is money. Even I, an avowed anti-religion agnostic deeply understand this: things in which one believes aren't for sale.

Perhaps you were being sarcastic, but either way, there's no offense meant.

This whole approach is like the standard right-wing pundit response to a wealthy liberal who proposes social spending. "What do you care; you're rich." To the true right-winger, it's pure incredulity; why would anyone care about others unless one has to?

Sistani can't be bought by anything, including guarantee of a Shiite government for the whole country; the conditions with which that would come would be to onerous, and the act of having knelt at the benevolent feet of the conquering infidel would be unerasable to his people.

Once again, we just don't "get it".

Springtime's here, and it's going to be ugly.

[ScrewyRabbit]

10. This is civil war, but no one in the media can utter those words

You have a powerful religious leader:

1. Saying that he doesn't recognize the authority of the CPA.
2. Calling for violent resistance rather than peaceful demonstrations.

It's time to fix the proper name to this situation.