al-Sadr offers to end fighting
Perhaps the media’s dire predictions of the Iraqi collapse are too much too soon?
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr offered Sunday to pull his fighters off the streets of Basra and other cities if the government halts raids against his followers and releases prisoners held without charge.
The offer was contained in a nine-point statement issued by his headquarters in Najaf.
An Iraqi government spokesman welcomed al-Sadr’s order, saying it was “positive and responsive.”
Here is what al-Sadr said
“Because of the religious responsibility, and to stop Iraqi blood being shed, and to maintain the unity of Iraq and to put an end to this sedition that the occupiers and their followers want to spread among the Iraqi people, we call for an end to armed appearances in Basra and all other provinces,” al-Sadr’s statement said.
“Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us,” the statement said.
Now, compare this news to what CNN was reporting Friday. Or the NY Slimes this morning.
The media just could not wait to report doom could they?
H/T Hot Air