Another Battle of Najaf Suggests Awful Development

A group calling itself the Army of Heaven stepped into the Iraq-Nam spotlight over the week-end. It was the target of Iraqi and American forces, who claimed to have killed 350 of the militants. While there was some surprise that the group had anti-aircraft weapons and other heavy equipment, the real concern was its alleged targeting of Shi’ite clerics and pilgrims during the commemoration of the death of Imam Hussien in the 7th century, known as “Ashura.” If the top clerics are slain, there will be no way to stabilize the country.

CNN reported, “Iraqi officials said insurgents planned to seize control of the city and surrounding province and kill top Shia religious figures -- including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most revered Shiite leader.” The Grand Ayatollah has been one of the few responsible leaders in Iraq, urging caution and restraint in the early years of the occupation. He has withdrawn from politics after growing disillusioned with the developments in the country. Nonetheless, he is the one man in the nation who could say to the Shi’ite majority, “jump” and the Shi’ites would ask “How high?”

Vali Nasr, a professor at the US Naval Postgraduate School, said, “Ayatollah Sistani is the most revered and the most followed Shia spiritual leader. He is like the Shia pope. Shias follow him across the Middle East in religious affairs, and his death at the hands of the insurgents would be of enormous symbolic value.” More importantly, there would be no one to stand in the way of the violent men to say “stop.”

The Army of Heaven is a new group, and the authorities in the Green Zone government haven’t pinned down much about it. They are unsure if it is Shi’ite or Sunni. It appears to be composed of diverse groups of Arabs, Afghans, Sudanese and others. According to Ahmed Duaibel, a spokesman for the provincial government in Najaf, they “are driven by an apocalyptic vision of clearing the Earth of the depraved in preparation for the second coming of Muhammad al-Mahdi, a Shiite imam who disappeared in the 9th century,” the Washington Post reported. The paper added “a voice on a loudspeaker could be heard saying by a Washington Post special correspondent who spent the day at a checkpoint near the orchards.” Among the things said were, “Imam Mahdi is among you” and “Fight until martyrdom.”

Ali Nomas, an Iraqi security official in Najaf, told the Los Angeles Times “Everyday someone claims he’s the Mahdi. They believe that the Mahdi has called them to fight in Najaf. There’s nothing bizarre left in Iraq anymore. We’ve seen the most incredible things.” The Army of Heaven, he said, is just one cult that has sprung up of late. These groups guarantee that things will get worse before they get better.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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