MaxedOutMama
Monday, February 28, 2005
Memri on Dawa and Ja'fari
MEMRI has a new bulletin covering the probable new Iraqi prime minister, al Ja'fari (a.k.a. Jaafari), the Dawa Party, and Iraq's likely direction. It's quite thorough. Their conclusion:
Dr. Ibrahim al-Ja'fari emerges from his statements as a religious moderate and a pragmatic politician. Given that he will preside over a transitional government until the next elections due for December of this year, there is no reason for alarm that he would seek to transform Iraq into an Islamist nation while the country is engaged in the drafting of a new constitution. There could be some changes on the margin, but the fundamental principles upon which the Iraqi social and political mosaic resides will probably remain unchanged.I don't consider MEMRI a mouthpiece for the Bush administration so I read the whole thing with great interest. Al Ja'fari opposed the invasion, but also opposes premature withdrawal of the troops. He sounds like a politician capable of bridging gaps:
Free for the first time from the politically oppressive environments in Iraq and Iran, al-Ushaiqir/al-Ja'fari was able to refocus attention on the "Iraqi Shi'a identity," to interact with other Iraqi parties in exile and to offer innovative ideas about a democratic future for Iraq. In fact, the Islamic Da'wa Party was able to establish what was termed as "flexible alliances" with other leaders in exile. Al-Ja'fari was instrumental in his party's decision to take part in the 1991 meetings in Beirut of the national action committee, the precursor of the Iraqi National Congress. [5] His activities, inclined toward political pragmatism, were opposed by another wing of the Da'wa Party led by Abu Bilal al-Adib, who supported the Iranian agenda and continues to reside in Iran and to be financially supported by the Iranian government.That might explain why Sistani endorsed al-Ja'fari.
