Sistani says ‘no deal’ with USA
Will the government of Iraq ignore the country’s most Pope-like religious leader?
BAGHDAD, July 8–The Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most revered Shiite leader in Iraq on Tuesday rejected any security agreement with US, stressing such deal will affect the country’s sovereignty.
In a meeting with Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq Al-Rubaie who was briefing al-Sistani in Najaf on the progress of the government’s security efforts, and the talks on US security deal, Ayatollah said his country will not accept such a security deal which is seeking to justify the illegal presence of US military troops in the war-torn country.
Ayatollah Sistani’s statements came after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday that Iraq was seeking a timetable for withdrawal of US troops as part of its negotiations with Washington on a controversial US security pact that guarantees long-term presence of the US troops in Iraq after the UN’s mandate expires at the end of 2008.
It was the first time that al-Maliki has explicitly and publicly called for a withdrawal timetable — an idea opposed by US President George W. Bush.
Sistani apparently doesn’t recognize that he has to go through the American media’s old holy guy, McCain, to determine if national autonomy is part of the pseudo-democracy plan for Iraq. Or that McCain’s decisions will vary from one day to the next.
I can’t, for the life of me, understand why Sistani would refuse to negotiate with a country that considers such a hero to be capable of living up to a treaty agreement. Whether it’s marriage, an immigration plan, the campaign finance system, Bush’s foreign policy or torture, McCain’s been as solid as quicksand.
And him do love them Shias just a bit west of where Sistani sits. So what’s not to trust?
July 9th, 2008 at 5:05 am
You do know you’re quoting from a state-run Iranian propaganda mill that reports precisely what Ahmadinejad’s government tells them to say, don’t you?
Just thought I’d make sure, as I know you hate “conservative” news…
July 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Iraq official presses U.S. for pullout plan…
Iraq’s national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the…
July 9th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Bob: your point is lost on me. Are you saying al-Sistani didn’t oppose the dealmaking? Or that al-Sistani has no influence over Iraqis?
If you have some facts to the contrary, by all means, show our readers what you have. To me, it looks only like you offer trivia that has no bearing on what got reported.