The problem of Najaf was Sadr [Archives:2004/769/Letters to the Editor]

Byron Allen
[email protected]
I am responding to one of Al-Haifi's recent editorials. The only problem in Najaf was Sadr himself. Why does he need to fight from cemeteries and mosques which are Holy Sites? Why does he send hundreds of supporter's to die needlessly? What are his goals? He uses the Holy site in Najaf as a cover for his power grab and he wants the interim government in Baghdad to resign. He wants to prevent a free election in Iraq so he and his band can establish a theocracy in Iraq and oppress those who oppressed him for years. He prevents his followers from having good jobs and freedom, because they will not be his followers for long if he allows this to happen.
When is the bloodshed going to stop? The US military, the American people and yes, even George Bush, want to remove all military forces from Iraq. The US has no interest in Iraq other than creation of a Democratic government, which can give the Iraqi people an exciting chance for a new life. A life where they have good jobs, houses, and where the young men are busy at the university and not busy doing the bidding of men like Sadr. You keep seeing some sinister plot in this whole matter but you forget that the sinister figure was Saddam, the President who was allowed to murder hundreds of thousands of Arabs without so much as a complaint from the Arab world.
Every time you write one of these inflammatory editorials, you do a disservice to everybody reading it. Your continuous reference to Israeli activities in Iraq is just nonsense and is meant to raise people's anger. Why don't you stop the hatred and try and be supportive of the new Iraqi government, support free elections in January, and let the Iraqi people show the Arab world what can be done if people try to get along. The hate and killing must stop.
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