He just happens to be closely allied with Iran. How 'bout that, huh?
"A US ally emerging to take helm of Iraq's largest Shi'ite party" by Alexandra Zavis/Los Angeles Times September 2, 2007
BAGHDAD - When guards in the holy city of Karbala waved a Shi'ite religious leader's convoy through a security cordon and into the Imam Hussein shrine last week, they incensed a crowd of rival militia men and sparked fighting that claimed the lives of at least 50 and left parts of the city smoldering.
The man inside the convoy was a 36-year-old who has emerged this summer as the probable next head of the party that is America's most powerful political ally in Iraq.
Ammar Hakim wears the black turban of those who claim descent from the Prophet Mohammed and was educated in the Islamic seminaries of Iran. He is far from the urbane, secular, Western-educated men whom US policy makers once hoped could govern this land.
Yet his family and the party they founded have the closest ties to Washington of any Iraqi faction. In the past few months, Hakim has been leading the party, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, stepping into the role of his more reticent father, Abdelaziz Hakim, who is being treated for lung cancer.
The younger Hakim's rise comes at a critical time for the party. The Supreme Council is the largest Shi'ite party in Iraq's Parliament, but has been losing influence on Iraq's streets to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Hakim's ability to counter Sadr could be crucial to the Bush administration's hopes to maintain support within Iraq for a continued US presence here.
Theirs is an increasingly violent feud that couples ideological division with dynastic rivalry. It pits the well-trained men of the Supreme Council's Badr Corps against Sadr's seemingly less- disciplined, but larger, Mahdi Army.
Last week's battle in Karbala forced the closure of a major religious pilgrimage and sparked reprisal attacks against Supreme Council offices across Baghdad. Shi'ite leaders, who rarely accuse one another publicly, blamed the violence on remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Ammar Hakim and Sadr are close in age, and both are charismatic sons of clerical families that have long vied for leadership among Iraq's Shi'ite majority. But Hakim, a polished orator with a classical Arabic diction, is a sharp contrast with the gruff Sadr, who speaks in the colloquial dialect of the Iraqi poor.
Hakim was groomed from an early age to take on a leadership role. The family home in Najaf was a frequent hide-out for wanted men. In a recent interview, Hakim said that from age 4, it was his job to pass food in secret to the party's fugitives. By the time he was 7, he would help his father elude Hussein's henchmen by acting as lookout.
"I was able to spot the security men even if they were dressed in civilian clothing," he said, breaking into one of many smiles. From age 9, Hakim would address thousands of Shi'ite faithful at mosques and religious festivals in Iran where his family fled in 1979 to escape Hussein's persecutions.
Many here and in Washington are suspicious of Hakim's close ties to Iran, where he spent more than half his life. Iran's Revolutionary Guard trained, equipped, and at one point led the Badr Corps, which fought alongside Iran during its eight-year war against Iraq.
By contrast, Sadr is an Iraqi nationalist who routinely denounces both Americans and Iranian influence although he, too, has taken assistance from Iran.
[So why the U.S. got a bug up its ass on Sadr?
Seems like he would be the Shiite leader we would want!
An IRAQI NATIONALIST!]
"We are not agents of Iran," Hakim said.
He pointed out that it was his father who had encouraged Iran to open a dialogue with the United States about Iraq, and he said it was in Iraq's interests to maintain good relations with both countries.
He cautioned against a sudden drawdown of US forces. He said he supports a US-sponsored bill governing the distribution of Iraq's massive oil wealth. And he expressed willingness to compromise with Sunni Arab politicians.
At a time of mounting frustration with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite from the rival Islamic Dawa Party, Hakim distanced himself from moves to replace Maliki.
"The problems of Iraq cannot be reduced to one person . . . especially as there are no other alternatives," he said, a view shared by US diplomats. "We have to put up with each other."
But analysts say it is too soon to say whether Hakim intends to chart a similar course to his father, or whether he could steer the party in a new direction."
[So what dirty game is the U.S. playing, reader?
Their closest Shia ally is also Iran's best friend?
And the U.S. is arming Sunnis as well?
WTF is going on other than ONE BIG BOONDOGGLE based on ABSOLUTE LIES?
Haven't you had enough, Amurka?]
