Muqtada Al-Sadr and the Battle for the Future of Iraq

"Stalingrad in Iraq" deserves to be a subtitle of this thin but illuminating volume. The US Army is as entombed in Iraq as the German 6th Army was in the Soviet city along the Volga. The end results are the same in both cases: strategic defeat. Not defeat yet to come, but defeat that is already an accomplished fact: none of the Army's tactical victories can or will alter the fact. I suspect much of the Iraqi resistance knows this while the US refuses to admit it; the Germans never did until it was too late to matter. Interestingly, the book's main character, Muqtada Al-Sadr, doesn't really make an appearance until the end. The author justifies this by stating that the man cannot be understood apart from his family history and the history of Shia Islam. Even before the war began I never believed that the US or its British poodle would have a snowball's chance in Hell of succeeding. Certainly the US experience in Vietnam, the French experience in Vietnam and Algeria, and the British experience in Iraq should have provided some clue to the Coalition's clueless leaders. The religious dimension is crucial to understanding the unfolding catastrophe. The emergence of Shia Islam in Iraq as THE major player alters the region's whole balance of power and threatens to destroy American predominance there for good or certainly for the foreseeable future. The Shias have a very long memory, as this book well explains: what happened 1400 years ago is as current to them as yesterday's news is to us. They never forget and know that their moment has come. Iraq is the spiritual and historical heart of Shia Islam. More than anyone else, so millions believe, Muqtada Al-Sadr exemplifies this conjunction of faith, power and political savvy. The US demonizes him as they demonized Saddam. There is one difference, Al-Sadr is the genuine article while Saddam was nothing more than a hapless egomanical clown--he was easy to knock over, Al-Sadr won't be. Like it or not, he is Iraq's future. this excellent book explains why.

The author provides both a first hand account of the Shia poltical environment after the fall of Saddam's regime as well as a history of the unique and bitter relationship between the Shia and Saddam that is most interesting for westerners as the author explains not only the conflicts between the Shia and Sunni but also between the Shia themselves. The book is not intended to be a bio of Muqtada al-Sadr but to underline his role in the Shia political conflicts within Iraq today. The most interesting aspects of the book is the telling of how the Shia were punished and killed during Saddam regime particularly Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr's father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. In summary yet informative detail, the author explains how the murder of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr caused a split among the Shia particularly those leaders that fled the country and then returned after Saddam's fall. The best example of this violent split is when Sayyid Abdul Majid al-Khoei returns to Iraq to assume a leadership role among the Shia but then is brutally murdered almost at Muqtada al-Sadr's door step. The slaughter of the Shia after the coalition stopped during Deset Storm, after encouraging an uprising, is well discussed with the bitterness it invoked along with the post Iraq war misunderstandings by the U.S. occupation most noted by Paul Bremmer. This is a very concise but well written educational look at the political situation in Iraq. My only criticism is that books in detail on the middle east should have a glossary of terms and a defined character list, for those less familar with middle east terms and titles, and I include myself, to assist the reader.

The media could not be loaded.  So much more clear picture of the history of the Sadrist Movement. Being a non-Iraqi Shia I never knew these facts about the Sadrs, and I used to dislike Muqtada to a great extent. The background of Muqtada explains a lot of things. Another special thing is the account of Sadr II (Muqtada's Father).Really good read even for some one not interested in Iraq because the story of this man is full of drama and suspense.

While the book is filled with lots of historical information, it is very difficult to read.

A fascinating read, This character is likely to return to become an important Iraqi leader in the future and this book is a must read to understand his past.

サドル師は欧米ジャーナリストを嫌っているため、この重要人物についてはあまり知られていませんが、テレビのニュースでイラクの民衆が映れば、ほぼ確実にその中の誰かがこの顔の写真を掲げています。この本を読むと、イラクのシーア派の中には、イラン系、シスタニ系、サドル系があり、これらをきちんと区別することがイラクの政治を理解する上では重要だということがわかります。