Muqtada al-Sadr urges rejection of US-Iraqi pact

We are the witness of the most globalized war ever. Trully world war III.
This will be not only a very widespread one. It will be a very long one. Like in the Orwellian 1984, this is a war with no end in sight.
The war has a lot of hot spots: Palestina/Israel, Irak, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Phiilpines, China, Russia. Almost every country is a potential battle field, as Argentinean people know well.
The issue is one of the keys regarding our future.
Will we witness nuclear weapons in Iran?
Millions of islamic people see the Westerns as modern Cruzades. Palestinean people is denied in their right of a land. Israelis can´t get the peace by forcefull means. Iran keeps waiting, while United States struggle with a monunmental economic deficit.
This is a very old conflict with a religious ingredient: hebrews, christians in one side, Islamics on the other side. The hebrew christian side has the technology but lacks on energy reserves. The islamic front has potentially the energy. But energy is in dispute and oil and gas scarcity will continue to grow.
As oil price rises the United States economy weakens.
Today we present the main current stories about World War III.
Welcome to World War III today:
from New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/world/middleeast/17forcescnd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Iraq Seems on Verge of Deal on American Presence


By DAVID STOUT
Published: October 17, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration and the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki on Friday appeared to be on the verge of an agreement that would spell out the conditions under which American troops would remain in Iraq and a timeline for their eventual departure.

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Times Topics: Status of Forces AgreementSimultaneous activity in Washington and Baghdad signalled that an accord was near on a security arrangement, formally called a status of forces agreement, to govern the conduct of American forces in Iraq for the remainder of their time there.

Aides to leading members of Congress were being briefed at the White House, while Mr. Maliki was briefing his council on national security in Baghdad. Moreover, a news briefing has been scheduled for Saturday in Baghdad, a sign that the executive branches of the United States and Iraq have ironed out their differences on an eventual American withdrawal.

“So we are getting closer to having this agreement worked out,” President Bush’s spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said at a Friday news briefing. “So we anticipate being able to hopefully have something soon. But I will stress to you, it’s not finalized yet.”

Ms. Perino was cautious, given the arduous negotiations in Washington and Baghdad. The White House has had to overcome the reservations of Congress, notably the concerns of some lawmakers that the accord be a security arrangement, and not a more binding mutual security treaty, which could touch off a war.

Another thorny issue was protection for American service members from Iraqi law. Language in the emerging accord is known to include provisions that the American military would be subject to the United States’ Uniform Code of Military Justice, at least while they are on duty.

Higher political obstacles exist in Iraq, where the agreement must be reviewed by the Council of Ministers (Mr. Maliki’s cabinet) after it is studied by the president’s security council. Then it must be approved by the often fractious Iraqi Parliament, some of whose members dislike, or are at least ambivalent about, the terms of the arrangement.

Officials of both countries who have followed the negotiations in Washington and Baghdad seem to agree on one thing: It will probably be weeks, and possibly months, before an agreement can be finalized because the sensitivity of the issue among Iraqi lawmakers and Mr. Maliki’s sometimes shaky position as the chief executive of a country only recently freed from decades of tyranny and still torn by ethnic factions.

Indeed, the Iraqi security council meeting on Friday was being boycotted by some members. Collectively, the absences did not appear to be enough to block passage of the accord outright, but they could at least make it harder to muster enough “yes” votes at showdown time.

Many Iraqi Parliament members have complained that the immunity provisions for United States troops are too broad, and that they should be subject to American laws for all their actions. Such feelings have been exacerbated by occasional incidents of serious misconduct by Americans in uniform.

But in Washington, the rounds of briefings and Ms. Perino’s remarks, however cautious, reinforced the impression that the long-delayed security deal between the two countries is closer than ever.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates conferred on Thursday with Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Mr. Levin has been a persistent critic of President Bush’s Iraq policy, and his approval of the agreement is essential.

Mr. Levin said Friday afternoon that he was reserving judgment on the agreement until he determines whether it provides full legal protections for “our dedicated men and women in uniform.”

He said he was pleased at the administration’s apparent willingness to accept timelines for withdrawal in view of the president’s previous statements to Congress that setting a timetable would amount to “setting a date for failure.”

“The president’s reversal on the subject of a timetable is welcome and overdue,” Mr. Levin said in a statement.Mr. Gates has also briefed the Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona, in the senator’s capacity as ranking minority member on the Armed Services Committee. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has briefed Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic candidate for president.

The draft of the emerging agreement includes a timeline for the withdrawal of American combat troops, calling for them to move out of Iraq’s cities and towns by mid-summer 2009 and to leave the country in 2011, according to an Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, who commented on Wednesday in Iraq.

Ms. Perino said on Friday that “an aspirational date” for bringing American troops can be realistically discussed now, not only because of the success achieved by the United States forces but because the Iraqi forces have “increased in confidence and competence over the past year, and they’re increasingly able to take over.”

Steven Lee Myers and Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington, and Alissa J. Rubin from Baghdad.


The Irani front is a crucial one. An the Iranians have strong allies in Irak, Muqtada al-Sadr is their leader.

Muqtada al-Sadr urges rejection of US-Iraqi pact
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Digg Facebook Newsvine del.icio.us Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 19 mins ago Play Video CNN – Lessons learned from war
Slideshow: Iraq Play Video Video: Iraqi Christians targeted CNN Play Video Video: Iraqis protest over US "occupation" Reuters AP – Thousands of followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr take part in a rally in Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday, … BAGHDAD – Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Saturday called on Iraq's parliament to reject a U.S.-Iraqi security pact as tens of thousands of his followers rallied in Baghdad against the deal.

The mass public show of opposition came as U.S. and Iraqi leaders face a Dec. 31 deadline to reach agreement on the deal, which would replace an expiring U.N. mandate authorizing the U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

Al-Sadr's message was addressed to the crowd as well as Iraqi lawmakers and read by his aide Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Mohammadawi before a huge crowd of mostly young men waving Iraqi and green Shiite flags and chanting slogans including "no, no to the agreement" and "yes to Iraq."

"The Iraqi government has abandoned its duty before God and its people and referred the agreement to you knowing that ratifying it will stigmatize Iraq and its government for years to come," he said.

"I am with every Sunni, Shiite or Christian who is opposed to the agreement ... and I reject, condemn and renounce the presence of occupying forces and basis on our beloved land," the message added.

Al-Sadr, who is living in Iran, also cast doubt on the Iraqi government's argument that the security pact is a step toward ending the U.S. presence in Iraq. The deal would require U.S. forces to leave by Dec. 31, 2011 unless Iraq asked some of them to stay.

"If they tell you that the agreement ends the presence of the occupation, let me tell you that the occupier will retain its bases. And whoever tells you that it gives us sovereignty is a liar," al-Sadr said. "I am confident that you brothers in parliament will champion the will of the people over that of the occupier ... Do not betray the people."

The demonstrators marched from the main Shiite district of Sadr City to the more central Mustansiriyah Square in eastern Baghdad.

"No, No to America," shouted one man, wearing a white Islamic robe as he sat in a wheelchair and clutched a poster of the Iraqi flag. "We prefer death to giving concessions."

Security was tight with Iraqi security forces manning checkpoints on sidestreets and snipers on rooftops. Iraqi Humvees controlled all the roads leading to the square. Giant Iraqi flags covered nearby buildings.

One banner in English said: "We refuse the existence of the U.S. in Iraq."

Organizers insisted the turnout for the demonstrations exceeded 1 million, but Associated Press reporters and photographers at the scene said the crowd was in the tens of thousands. Police had no estimates of their own.

"This demonstration is our response to the agreement," said Nasser al-Saadi, one of 30 Sadrist lawmakers. "It is also meant to demand a popular referendum on the agreement."

The three-hour gathering ended without trouble except for a brief incident when several young demonstrators pelted army troops manning a checkpoint with rocks. There were no injuries and no arrests.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and the Bush administration have hammered out a draft agreement after months of bitter negotiations. But the Iraqi parliament must ratify the deal and Iraq's pre-eminent cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has said any accord must have national consensus.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite, could be politically isolated if he tries to win parliament's backing in the face of widespread opposition.

Several Sunni and Shiite clerics, who wield considerable influence in shaping public opinion, also spoke out during Friday prayer services against the draft, complaining that the Iraqi public knows little about the terms.

A copy of the draft accord obtained by The Associated Press specifies that U.S. troops must leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and be gone by 2012. It gives Iraq limited authority over off-duty, off-base U.S. soldiers who commit crimes.

U.S. Congressional approval is not required for the pact to take effect, but the administration is trying to build maximum political support anyway.

"This agreement poses a serious danger to the Iraqi people," said Nassar al-Rubaie, another Sadrist lawmaker. "It will replace Iraq's occupation with foreign protection."

Al-Sadr's loyalists quit al-Maliki's government last year in protest against the prime minister's failure to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. They also quit the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite bloc in parliament.

They boycotted a meeting Friday night between al-Maliki and leaders of parliamentary blocs to discuss a draft of the agreement and plan to vote against it when it comes up for a vote in the 275-seat parliament.

Also on Saturday, Iraqi officials said the leader of a U.S.-allied Sunni group that turned against al-Qaida was killed in a drive-by shooting south of Baghdad.

Abdul-Hadi Obais al-Janabi was a local leader in the Sons of Iraq group, which the U.S. credits with helping improve security in former insurgent strongholds. Such U.S.-backed Sunni groups have recently come under the authority of the Iraqi government.

A police spokesman said al-Janabi was walking Saturday in the village of Jurf al-Sakhr when he was killed. Dr. Zuhair al Khafaji at al-Musayyib hospital in Hillah confirmed the death.

Meanwhile, Bahrain's foreign minister arrived in Iraq's capital Saturday for a one-day visit aimed at improving bilateral relations between the countries, the latest high-level visit by a senior Arab dignitary...
Meanwhile in Washington we have relevant news also. From Malcolm X to Farrakhan, black people and Islam have strong ties, while the relation with the US government has allways been at least distant, when not of confrontation.

From:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081018/ap_on_re_us/farrakhan_mosque
Farrakhan says 'new beginning' for Nation of Islam

By SOPHIA TAREEN, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO – The Nation of Islam, a secretive movement generally closed to outsiders, has planned a rare open-to-the public event at its Chicago-based headquarters in what the Minister Louis Farrakhan deemed a "new beginning" for the group.

Hundreds of religious leaders of different faiths have been invited to the event planned for Sunday, a rededication of the group's historic Mosque Maryam on the city's South Side. Farrakhan is scheduled to speak.

"We have restored Mosque Maryam completely, and we will dedicate it to the universal message of Islam, and the universal aspect of the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad," Farrakhan said in an invitation letter. "It represents for the Nation of Islam, a new beginning."

The event comes just weeks after the death of Imam W.D. Mohammed, the son of Nation founder Elijah Muhammad, who broke with the group and moved thousands of African-Americans toward mainstream Islam.

The Nation purchased the mosque, a former Greek Orthodox church, in 1972 and has since been making renovations. The stately 1948 structure, embellished with a golden dome and topped with an Islamic crescent moon, is adorned with Quranic verses in Arabic.

Experts say opening the mosque's doors to the public is a calculated move.

"It is a very conscious effort to open the mosque up to the community and to rededicate the community to learning about Islam," said Aminah McCloud, a professor of Islamic studies at DePaul University. "Previously, the Nation has been open to people coming to visit it, but its members don't generally go anywhere else ... now there is a concerted effort."

While the Nation has espoused black nationalism and self-reliance since it was founded in the 1930s, in recent years members have reached out to other groups. For instance, the Nation has a Latino liaison and has become involved in immigrant rights rallies and marches. Also, the Minister Ishmael Muhammad, a top assisting minister at the mosque and widely thought to be a potential successor to Farrakhan, has talked about unity between all people, at times speaking in Spanish.

Farrakhan, 75, has haltingly tried to move the Nation toward traditional Islam, which considers the American movement heretical because of its view of Elijah Muhammad as a prophet — among other novel teachings. Orthodox Islam teaches that there has been no prophet after Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century.

He's also played down some of the group's more controversial beliefs. The Nation of Islam has taught that whites are descended from the devil and that blacks are the chosen people of Allah.

The event on Sunday also wraps up a week of events marking the 13th anniversary of the Million Man March, which Farrakhan began in 1995. That year, hundreds of thousands of people traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate.

On Thursday, Farrakhan spoke to inmates at Cook County jail urging self improvement, atonement and reconciliation, principles the Million Man March promoted.

Those values "can help reduce violence and anti-social behavior ... and have universal significance and will benefit those willing to listen," according to a statement from the Nation.

Farrakhan's Sunday speech will mark his second major public address this year and is among several smaller community and religious events he has attended.

His public appearances have surprised many since in 2006, he seceded leadership to an executive board while recuperating from serious complications from prostate cancer.

In February, Farrakhan appeared at an annual Saviours' Day event in Chicago and called Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better. The Obama campaign quickly denounced Farrakhan's support, because of past comments about Jews that many have called offensive.

In the past months, Farrakhan has attended funeral services of W.D. Mohammed and Jabir Herbert Muhammad, both sons of the late Elijah Muhammad.

Keep conected for more news
Best regards
Eduardo Blasina