Muqtada al-Sadr, the populist Shiite cleric, and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq, forged the agreement in the spirit of the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said SICI spokesman Haytham al-Husseini. Gestures of forgiveness and mercy are often made during Ramadan.
The deal has three main points: stopping the fighting between Iraqis, urging print and electronic media to engender a spirit of friendship and forgiveness, and establishing commissions in each of Iraq's 18 provinces to oversee the peace initiative.
While this all looks good on paper, I'm cautiously optimistic. Sure, we'd all like everyone to get along and us to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible. But until that actually happens, I think we've earned the right to be suspicious.
Al-Sadr has earned a reputation for his militia's brutality, so if they truly want peace, I'm all for it. However, my main concern is that they are simply putting on a show for the world to see. I wonder if they are simply saying they want peace, wait until we leave, then rip each other apart and try to establish themselves as a regional power. Al-Sadr was up until recently in Iran, so it's no inconceivable for this to be a part of an Iranian plot to try to drive us out of Iraq. They haven't been able to do it with explosives, so why not try the peace route?
I really hope I'm wrong on this, but there's that thought in the back of my head "it's a trap!"
Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com
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