{"id":120616,"date":"2016-07-30T09:02:33","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T09:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/07\/30\/moqtada-al-sadr-and-his-followers-in-iraq-are-thirsty-for-americans-blood\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:14:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:14:54","slug":"moqtada-al-sadr-and-his-followers-in-iraq-are-thirsty-for-americans-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2016\/07\/30\/moqtada-al-sadr-and-his-followers-in-iraq-are-thirsty-for-americans-blood\/","title":{"rendered":"Moqtada al Sadr and his followers in Iraq are &#8216;thirsty for Americans&#8217; blood&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For the first time in years, the Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and his <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Shiite <\/span>militia are\u00a0unleashing fiery anti-American rhetoric and threatening to attack U.S. troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But top U.S. military officials have downplayed his <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the <\/span>remarks, saying that\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">and said <\/span>for now there\u2019s no cause for concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadr<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, who<\/span> rose to prominence when\u00a0his Mahdi Army battled\u00a0U.S. troops <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">in Iraq <\/span>after the 2003 invasion. He has quietly tolerated the comparatively small U.S. military force there now supporting the war on Islamic State extremists<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0in Iraq for most of the past two years<\/span>. But the powerful cleric\u00a0became confrontational again\u00a0after Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced plans on July 11 to send an additional 560 U.S. troops to Iraq, bringing the total <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">there <\/span>to more than 4,600<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> American service members<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;They are a target for us,&#8221; Sadr said in a post on his official website on July 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few days later, an official spokesman for Sadr&#8217;s militia, Alaa Abboud, echoed the threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We are thirsty for Americans&#8217; blood,&#8221; Abboud told a prominent Iraqi television news channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any attacks by <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">from <\/span>Sadr&#8217;s militia would fundamentally change the Pentagon\u2019s view of its mission <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">in Iraq <\/span>to defeat the Sunni-led Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.\u00a0If <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the <\/span>U.S. forces were\u00a0faced with a violent enemy inside <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Iraq\u2019s <\/span>Shiite-controlled territory, where many American <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">of today&#8217;s <\/span>troops are based, the heightened\u00a0risk <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">to them troops would soar and <\/span>could prompt senior commanders <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">U.S. leaders <\/span>to <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">change <\/span>rethink their strategy or bring some troops home.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So But so far, Sadr&#8217;s followers have not acted on his\u00a0followed up the rhetoric and threats with action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Army Col. Chris Garver, a Defense Department spokesman in Baghdad, acknowledged Sadr&#8217;s tonal <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the <\/span>shift<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, noting\u00a0in tone from Sadr and his followers and noted that combative comments target other members of the American-led coalition<\/span>.\u00a0But that\u2019s all, for now, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We haven&#8217;t seen anything other than the rhetoric. &#8230; We haven&#8217;t seen anything physically in terms of upticks of threats against an American or any coalition&#8221; members,\u00a0Garver told reporters earlier this week<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0July 27<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the apparent shift in <\/span>Sadr&#8217;s shift <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">rhetoric <\/span>is worrying, but troops in Iraq are well protected.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Anytime we have people threatening U.S. forces, that is a concern. But we feel confident in the security measures we&#8217;ve put in place,&#8221; Cook said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Sadr extended his threats to include British troops after British defense minister Michael Fallon\u2019s July 20<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">th<\/span> announcement that the United Kingdom\u00a0would double the number of troops deployed to Iraq to 500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The comments from Sadr\u2019s camp may be an attempt to draw <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">domestic <\/span>political support from fellow <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the <\/span>Iraqis, many of whom oppose the U.S. military presence there, said Joel Wing, an Iraq analyst who publishes the blog Musings on Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Sadr has been pushing Iraqi nationalism in his current political battles and making the comments about the U.S. being targets is part of that,&#8221; Wing told Military Times recently. &#8220;Overall, think it was just a political comment to score some points rather than a real threat&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The powerful Shiite cleric and his militia are ratcheting up their fiery anti-American 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