He cares little for the central government EXCEPT for the influence he has in that position which is backed up by his powerful Shi'ite militia, the Badr Brigade.
He rules 'by the gun' and 'the gun' in the hands of his Shi'ite militia is what has insured his longevity. In many ways his tactics are those of an 'inbedded terrorist' with the same tactics as al Qaeda. It is difficult to say why militias exist in Iraq, EXCEPT, that when men like Hakim have their personal militias there is no choice but for others to exist to protect people from a totalitarian regime AGAIN.
The most interesting aspect of this to note is that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on his way back to Baghdad to stop the killing of the Southern Shi'ites aligned with the Grand Ayatollah and his Cleric.
In other words, Hakim took advantage of the absence of Maliki to kill the Mahdi Army by forcing issues 'on the ground' in Basra in the face of any plea by the Shi'ite leaders there for a continued ceasefire. Quite literally, the American forces are doing the bidding of the Badr Brigade when the Iraqi military could not carry out a victory for Genocide of the Sistani Shia.
Bush is a fool and one willing to do anything, on any grounds, with propaganda to cover his tracks to secure his political regime in the USA. War is the 'currency' of the Republican Party these days and to fail in any way at that 'game' is to insure the disruption of Republican power in the Executive Branch and otherwise.
So what exactly is happening in Iraq? Survival. The Sistani Shia are still trying to survive. First it was the disruption of water to the wetlands by Saddam and it was the militias of the Shia that rebelled causing the deaths of 50,000 of them in 2002. Today, the Hakim Shia are anchored into power rather than standing up for moral principles. If you would recall, the Imam Ali Mosque, the center of Shia beliefs and worship, was under attack and it took the Grand Ayatollah to stop that massive killing as well.
Now, the Grand Ayatollah is being targeted directly as is his Cleric and the people that worship with them. The Grand Ayatollah is a man of peace and always has been but he and his Cleric have stood any and all 'seductions' of Bush's Political Machine in Baghdad and remained 'leaders of their people' rather than 'sell outs' to the Bush Puppet government in Baghdad.
When the first governing body of Iraq was being chosen, it was at the time when al Sadr was under attack in Najaf. He was asked to join with the first 100 members, soon to be 200+, nearly 300 members of the Central Government and to come out of danger of his soon to be destroyed Mosque if indeed the Grand Ayatollah did not appear. Sadr refused. He stated the work of the central authority was corrupt. And it is. Absolutely corrupt. He, having lost so many members of his family under Saddam, has known corruption and the result 'over time' of it's dynamics. It was he that had his newspaper shut down by Bremer and at that moment felt the 'ingrained' corruption that would become the 'status quo' of Iraq.
The Sistani Shia are the most devout of the Shi'ites. They are a gross minority. They are more preoccupied with prayer and daily living under the gaze of their Holy Men to walk in harmony with Allah. They are a unique Shia and need the protections and not the attacks of the USA, or without that reality a possibility, the protections of the United Nations and the World Courts.
The Sistani Shia did nothing to deserve these attacks, except, defend themselves as they easily can do. An army of 60,000 is no small army and they manage to protect themselves without the benefit of aircraft or otherwise. Now, the Bush military is turning an unrising against the Iraqi military directed to kill them on behalf of people like Hakim into a slaughter. The USA has no interest in the deaths that are occurring today with the 'over powered' American war in Iraq. They are literally killing for the purpose of eliminating any threat to the Badr Brigade. The American military under the command of George Walker Bush are a 'killing machine' and not an extension of diplomacy.
What is occurrring Basra is a profound effort at annihilation of the Sistani Shia, for absolutely no reason except they are trying, still today, to survive.
It's absolutely amazing how stupid and ludicrous Bush, Cheney and their generals are. According to the USA miltiary in Iraq, they entered the frey because they were 'asked.' No discretion, just asked. Amazing. Today is the day the USA, unannouced, will kill Sistani Shia because they were asked. No other reason. Simply amazing. Sort of like throwing a puppy over a cliff. No sound reason, just a good day to do it.
