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

by Patrick Cockburn

Book Overview

Time magazine listed him as one of its "100 People Who Shape Our World." Newsweek featured him on its cover under the headline "How Al-Sadr May Control U.S. Fate in Iraq." Paul Bremer denounced him as a "Bolshevik Islamist" and ordered that he be captured "dead or alive." Who is Muqtada al-Sadr, and why is he so vital to the future of Iraq and, arguably, the entire Middle East?

In this compellingly readable account, prize-winning...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416551484
• ISBN13: 9781416551485
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Would you buy a used Camel from this man?

This book tells alot about the Iraqi Civil War between the Shi'ites and the Sunni with Al-Queda playing both sides to fan the flames.The theme of the book seems to be-Muqtada says,"I don't need help from Iran or the rest of the world to destroy what's left of Iraq circa 2008.I can devastate Iraq all by myself." The first 112 pages of the book are devoted to the history of the Shias in Iraq and the surrounding region and their conflicts over power and influence with the Sunnis. You can't help but get a "desert culture" (no water)!!feeling for the Shias with all of the harsh laws. At the same time the Shias promote legislation and programs designed for the "poor masses",even at times advocating socialistic ideas.A complex combination of austere restrictions mixed with generous giveaway benefits for the "people"?.It somewhat takes the wind out of the sails of the American victory over Iraq in 1991 when one finds out the Iraqi Army(EXCEPT THE REPUBLICAN GUARD) was 80% Shiate and had largely deserted Kuwait well before "Desert Storm".In short the Shias have never wanted any part of Saddams government and they comprised about 60% of his people. The author potrays Muqtada as chaemeleonlike,that is able to adapt different political stances from extreme violence to Ghandilike peacefull resistance. The latter part of the book goes into the Shia infighting with Muqtada (so far!!) rising to the top of the body count of the suicide bombings between the Shi'ites and the Sunni.Any pro-Western Shia Ayatollahs thus far have had "most unfortunate accidents",loosely(or strongly) linked to Muqtada's crowd.Muqtada inherited his position through family relations and marriages and numerous members of his family were imprisoned and murdered under Saddams' reign. Is Muqtada a pawn of Iran? The answer is a mild yes and a strong no.Undoubtedly some of his equipment and ideologies are direct Iranian exports but Muqtada tries not to dip too far into the Iranian well. The verdict on Muqtada's mixture of theocracy and politics is far from final.Good history as I've often heard isn't written until 10 years after the event.This book however looks like a good example of history repeating itself.I'm not holding my breath how this story is going to play out,probably another return to the middle ages ala Afghanistan.At least from the read of this credible work.The author offers a few sentences toward the end of the book about"missed opportunites for peace in Iraq",and offers a solution or two but it doesn't distract from the story as he tells it.right now it seems like Muqtada is at the head of the Shi'ite attempt to remove the Sunni from all the important political posts in Iraq.The Sunnis are not going peacefully.

In depth look at Iraqi Culture and Politics

Cockburn does a wonderful job using day to day interviews to paint a larger picture deserving of the many accolades he has received in the international press. Iraqi society, much more complex and modern than the American media ever paints, is a boiling cauldron fired by the legacy of Saddam, the sanctions, and now the US occupation. This book is for anyone who wants an understanding of the Iraqi resistance and Muqtada al-Sadr that goes beyond the moronic simplicity of White House press releases.

essential reading for anyone interested in Iraq

This is quite simply THE definitive book on the Iraqi Shia political movements. It is written by the best (and sometimes it seems only) reporter in Iraq. Its must-reading for anyone who wants to understand the real political situation in Iraq.

This is a superb book!

If you will read just one book about the Iraq before and after the invasion, this is. Give valuable info about why was so rapid the develop of shia militias and shia political parties - and their rivalries. Shed light of the mistrust toward the US by the shia's poor of the south that were slaughtered under Saddam after the insurrection rise up against him. Many believing the 1991 coalition will intervene and help them. The actual ethnic cleansing - another actual not editorialized as such genocide in the hopeless international community watch - taking part in Iraq is covered sadly, pretty painful. Whith the corrupt government seeing as not legitimate puppets of the US, that are part of the sectarian clashes with their private army's/militias or self defense group's, sometimes dressed as police or army units. Finnaly, why and how so quickly Muqtada rise up is explain.

Stalingrad in 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.