Month: September 2007

If you ever thought that the Crusader Castle on the Tigris was nothing more than a useless, extravagant monument to the American neocons’ ego, look where George and Condi’s Imperial retinue headed when they snuck into Iraq this time.

In the wake of this week’s rioting in Karbala, Mahdi Army leader and radical Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadrordered his followers to suspend violent activity for the next six months. One of the focuses of the suspension is to eliminate "rogue elements" from the militia in an increasingly competitive southern Iraq. This tactic apparently has already borne fruit as a previously unknown group has come forward with an unverified statement that rejects the temporary truce and claims they are not covered by the order.

According to Iraq Slogger, they call themselves the "Free Sadr Brigades in All Iraq." In other circles, they are also known as the "Free Man’s Brigade." The group derives their name not from Muqtada al-Sadr but from his father, the late cleric Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr. While they respect the younger al-Sadr, they say that the "young [Shi’ite] cleric does not enjoy the authority to order the Mahdi Army to “freeze” its activity."

As well as rejecting the suspension order, Iraq Slogger is reporting that the Free Sadr Brigades also accuse Iran of interfering in Iraq and suggest that the recent clashing in Karbala is part of a pro-Iranian conspiracy. They complain that the shrine protection forces are suspiciously distinct from any Iraqi security forces and feel that the forces are under Iranian direction. The Free Sadr Brigades also note that the situation is reminiscent of a revolt following the 1991 Gulf War, in which many Shi’ites were ruthlessly killed by the Saddam regime. They would like the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and human rights groups to step in and determine what actually is going on.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_31_grigg.mp3]

William Norman Grigg, publisher of TheRightSource, and author of the blog Pro-Libertate, discusses America’s descent into an authoritarian fascist state, our current system’s similarity to the way things are in China and Cuba (executions, slave labor, new prisons in waiting, etc.), the Prison-Industrial-Complex, the economics of the corporate warfare/police state, its origins in the Civil and Indian wars, the solution of laissez faire, the militarization of domestic police, the American civic religion of force that makes it all possible and the push for a North American Union.

MP3 here. (46:45)

William Norman Grigg writes the Pro Libertate blog and is the founder and editor of The Right Source.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_31_white.mp3]

Wayne White, former Deputy Director of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research Office of Analysis for the Near East and South Asia and Adjunct Scholar at the Middle East Institute, discusses America’s march to war with Iran, Secretary Rice’s enabling of Cheney’s plot, the ratcheting up of the propaganda campaign, his belief that Iran indeed does have a nuclear weapons program, but has no intent to use them once acquired, his predictions for the massive crisis that will take place, the bad news for anyone thinking they’re actually going to mount a land invasion of Persia, the recent report by British scholars saying that plans include hitting as many as 10,000 targets, the opposition of the Joint Chiefs, the weakness of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s real authority in Iran, the EFPs and whether or not they come from Iran, Sadr and Hakim’s relations with Iran, Obama and Hillary’s threats against Pakistan and severe consequences of messing around over there, the empowering of al Qaeda that would take place in the event of war in Iran, the warping of American policy around the interests of the state of Israel and the fact that American support for Israel motivated the 9/11 plotters and pilots and creates hatred for the United States among regular people around the world every day.

MP3 here. (49:17)

Wayne White most recently served as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research Office of Analysis for the Near East and South Asia. White also served as principal Iraq analyst and head of INR/NESA’s Iraq team from 2003 to 2005. He was Chief of INR’s Maghreb, Arabian Penninsula, Iran and Iraq division and State Department representative to NATO Middle East working groups from 1990 to 2002.

Mr. White served as Political Officer at the US interest section in Baghdad in 1983.

From 1978-1979, Mr. White served as a US Sinai Field Mission peacekeeper. White joined INR/NESA in 1979 as editor of INR’s Arab-Israeli Situation Report, and as an analyst for Iraq. He then served as Senior Analyst for Syria and head of NESA’s Lebanon Crisis Team.

White has traveled extensively in West Africa, North Africa, the Levant, Iraq and the Gulf. He has received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award five times, INR Analyst of the Year, and National Intelligence Medal for Outstanding Achievement and the Secretary’s Career Achievement Award.

A Philadelphia native, White has a BA and an MA in Middle East history from Penn State University.