Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 10:08:34 +1200
From: Margaret Trawick <trawick-AT-clear.net.nz>
Subject: the rapid demise of secularism in Iraq


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.


With the fall of the Ba'ath Party, secularism is a goner in Iraq for
some time to come.  The Empire gets oil; Iraqis -- both those who
resist and those who collaborate -- get religion.  What a deal.

*****   Protesters pour from the mosques to reclaim the streets for Islam
Jonathan Steele in Baghdad
Saturday April 19, 2003
The Guardian

Iraq's huge political differences erupted into the open in the
capital yesterday as tens of thousands of religious protesters called
on the US to leave the country even as Washington's closest protege,
Ahmad Chalabi, told a press conference that "the moral imperative is
on the US to provide leadership and the Iraqi people will accept it".

On the second Muslim day of prayer since the collapse of Saddam
Hussein's regime, thousands of worshippers poured out of the mosques
and marched through Baghdad's predominantly Sunni al-Azameyah
neighbourhood. They chanted both anti-American and anti-Saddam
slogans.

Shia clerics in Baghdad and the spiritual capital of Najaf have
called in recent days for an Islamic state and yesterday's protest
could have become a Sunni counter-demonstration. Roughly 60% of
Iraqis are Shia while Sunnis have traditionally ruled the country.

But the marchers yesterday called for national unity among the
country's Sunnis and Shias, as well as the Kurds. "No to America, No
to Saddam! Our revolution is Islamic," some chanted. Others carried
banners in English and Arabic, reading: "Leave our country. We want
peace" and "We reject American hegemony".

As the demonstrators moved forward with Korans, prayer mats and
banners they met a dozen American marines coming from the opposite
direction. The protesters began waving their right fists in the air
and chanting, "America is God's enemy". The troops turned into an
alley and there was no confrontation.

It was the city's biggest protest since US forces captured Baghdad
nine days ago. The organisers called themselves the Iraqi National
United Movement and said they represented both Muslim communities.
One of the biggest columns came from Abi Hanifah Nouman mosque, whose
dome was smashed by an American bomb during the three-week war.

In his sermon the imam, Ahmed al-Kubaisi, said the US had invaded
Iraq to defend Israel. He denied Iraq had weapons of mass
destruction, Washington's main argument for attacking Iraq. "This is
not the America we know, which respects international law, respects
the right of people," he said.

One protester said: "We will give the American troops a few months to
leave Iraq. If they do not, we will fight them with knives."

A statement issued by the movement and signed by Imam al-Kubaisi
said: "Our movement wants every Iraqi to take part in rebuilding Iraq
and set up a new modern state." It also urged Iraqis to oppose the
"federal government that the US wants to set up in the next few
days"....

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,939619,00.html>   *****

*****   New York Times   April 19, 2003
A Cleric Assumes a Bully Pulpit
By CHARLIE LeDUFF

KUT, Iraq, April 18 - Try as they might, the American military
commanders here cannot outfox Sayed Abbas.

Mr. Abbas, 52, was the first to arrive at city hall last week after
Kut fell to the Americans. A Shiite Muslim preacher, he immediately
declared himself the elected mayor of the city, though no election
seems to have taken place.

He has taken up residence amid the chandeliers, marble and mahogany
of city hall and is surrounded by legions of zealous supporters, an
exclusively male population that grows larger by the day.

The frustrated Americans have referred to the chain-smoking cleric as
a clown, a false prophet, a sham holy man, a boob. But the more they
slander him, the mightier his stature and his message of resistance
to American domination seem to become.

"Iraq cannot be unified until it is governed by its people," Mr.
Abbas told 1,000 people in the compound this afternoon before midday
prayers. "To this end, we will sacrifice ourselves."

Mr. Abbas has become an embarrassment to the Americans, who are
supposed to be in control of the country. But it is not entirely so.
For instance his men control the checkpoint along the road that leads
from Kut to Nasiriya.

The cleric has become a spectacle. City officials have begun paying
homage to him. Iraqis returning from exile in Iran stop in Kut for an
audience with him. They carry banners that say: "Freedum Yes. Occupy
No."

It seems that the more Mr. Abbas's presence grows, the slipperier the
Americans' grip on power and the good will of Kut residents becomes.
In front of the destroyed grand mosque today, more than 5,000
gathered in prayer, an offense punishable by torture just a month
ago. But rather than hail the forces that had made such gatherings
possible, the cleric called for resistance against the dividers, an
oblique reference to the Americans.

Mr. Abbas is a local leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, a political party that was outlawed under Saddam
Hussein and that has ties to Iran. Ayatollah Muhammad Bakar Hakim,
the council's leader, is said by his spokesman to be planning a trip
to Kut with the specific intention of encouraging Mr. Abbas.

Among the throng inside the city hall compound, which has come to
resemble an American campus sit-in, are members of Hezbollah and
other radical Shiite militants like the Badr Corps and Al Dawa Party
that also fought futilely against Mr. Hussein's secret police.

American soldiers stormed the city hall compound earlier this week
and removed a cache of semiautomatic rifles. Two men inside the
compound today said they were surprised then but would be ready next
time. They said would be willing to use themselves as suicide bombers
against the Americans if they dared to enter the compound again.

American Special Forces soldiers who frequent the hotel lobby here,
drinking coffee and napping in the foyer, say they considered killing
Mr. Abbas but have since thought better of it. Col. Ron Johnson, a
commander of American marines in the sector, says the Americans have
taken a wait-and-see approach.

"Abbas is a clown, but he remains a concern to us," Colonel Johnson
said. "We've taken the attitude that if we ignore him for the time
being, he might go away."

But he is too powerful to ignore. The Americans have invited Mr.
Abbas to a meeting tomorrow of the local tribal and religious leaders
in hopes that some sort of administrative body can be formed to
oversee public works....

<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/19/international/worldspecial/19CLER.html>

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