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Iraq
Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (R) drives a car as he joins anti-government demonstrators gathering in the central holy city of Najaf on October 29, 2019. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday warned “occupying America” against intervening in Iraqi affairs, including their supervision of the potential early elections to meet some anti-government protester demands. Sadr vowed to end US presence in Iraq if they continued to intervene in the country's affairs.
“Enough of you interfering in our affairs. Iraq already has great [individuals] who can protect it and doesn’t need intervention from you or anyone else,” Sadr, who is head of the 2018 parliamentary election-winning Sayirun Alliance, said on Monday.
“Occupying America has proven again” that it interferes in the affairs of other countries, he added, but it is Iraqis who will settle the fate of “corrupt” officials the US “imposed” on Iraqis after it invaded the country in 2003.
His fiery message came in response to a White House statement released on Sunday concerning anti-government protests that have engulfed much of central and southern Iraq.
The US expressed “concern” over the repressive measures used to shut down protests and blamed Iranian interference in the country’s affairs.
“Iraqis won’t stand by as the Iranian regime drains their resources and uses armed groups and political allies to stop them from peacefully expressing their views,” the White House said on Sunday.
“The United States joins the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq in calling on the Iraqi government to halt the violence against protesters and fulfill President Salih’s promise to pass electoral reform and hold early elections,” the statement added.
Protests began on October 1, 2019 in Baghdad’s famed Tahrir Square, calling for the improved provision of basic services, efforts to combat high rates of unemployment, and an end to corruption. They quickly spread across the city and to central and southern parts of Iraq.
Protester demands grew to include an overhaul of electoral laws, the Iraqi constitution, and Iraq’s parliamentary system. They have been met with lethal force by security forces, including the fire of live rounds of ammunition and military-grade tear gas canisters.
Over the course of both rounds of protest, at least 319 people have died and more than 15,000 people have been injured, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights.
The protest “bloodbath” has led to more urgent US calls for an end to their violent repression.
Strengthening rhetoric from the US has prompted Sadr to issue warning against any American involvement in future elections.
“Even though we have called for early elections, we will not remain silent if it is under American supervision, and we will not allow America to ride the wave to turn Iraq into Syria and into another field of rivalry,” Sadr warned in his Monday message.
“If it interferes again, it will be the end of its presence [in Iraq] through an angry million [-people] protest by direct order from us,” he added.
The US currently has over a thousand troops stationed at military bases across Iraq. Having withdrawn from the country in 2011, they were invited back in 2014 to fight the then rapidly spreading Islamic State group (ISIS). Their main mission now is to train and assist Iraqi forces for counter-ISIS remnant operations.
Renewed American presence has long been contentious among Iraq’s political leadership, with many pro-Iran parties in particular calling for the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
Sadr’s response comes at a critical juncture for protesters, who have lost considerable ground in Baghdad after security force offensives to capture the Ahrar, Shuhada, and Sinak bridges. They now only hold Tahrir Square – the center point of their protests – and part of the Jumhuriya Bridge.
The bridges were highly strategic protest sites because they lead to the fortified Green Zone, where many governmental and international institutions are based.
Whether Sadr would be able to garner enough support to execute his plans remains to be seen. His attempts to oust Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi late last month failed when he was unable to obtain the support of the rival Bina Coalition, a parliamentary group composed mainly of Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitia-aligned political parties.
The Prime Minister, who has held office for just under a year, has deflected blame for the current systemic failures of Iraqi government onto his predecessors. He has expressed reluctance to step down from office, arguing his resignation would create a power vacuum that would exacerbate Iraq’s problems.
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