A Time For Peace?

Finally, some peaceful, organized resistance to the madness in Iraq! Mahatma Gandhi would be proud:

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most powerful religious leader, made a surprise return to the country Wednesday, and immediately called on Shiites to march with him on Najaf in a bid to peacefully end the uprising there.

This is very big news. Al-Sistani's silence has been defeaning for the past year. As the supreme leader of Iraq's majority Shi'a religious group, he is the single most powerful figure in Iraq today.

MSNBC reports that hundreds of thousands of Shiites could now march on Najaf (the BBC reports one marcher already killed). This means that the siege is effectively over, it is just a matter of time till the fighting stops.

But US forces are currently within 200 metres of the Shrine of Imam Ali, and there is a chance they could finish off the remaining al-Sadr forces before al-Sistani and his followers arrive. Even so, what would victory gain them?

Al-Sadr's resistance, and al-Sistani's support, highlight the weakness of Allawi' s US puppet government. Allawi will probably claim that the siege was a success, but the truth is that this seige has forced the hand of al-Sistani. The next few days could be very interesting indeed.

I wonder if anyone will notice... Er, how many gold medals have we got now, folks?

Ironically, while thousands of Shi'ites head for Najaf, thousands of Bush supporters are marching towards New York City... for better or worse.