Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq [Hardcover]

Patrick Cockburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2008

Whatever else the United States intended when it invaded Iraq in the spring of 2003, it was not to hand the country over to a 32-year-old militant cleric who fought against their presence from the start and whom former Iraqi administrator L. Paul Bremer III described as a "Bolshevik Islamist." Yet, as the occupation steadily disintegrates, the likelihood grows ever stronger that Muqtada al-Sadr, the black-turbaned leader of Iraq's poor Shiites, will take power when the Americans finally leave.In this compelling and narrative-driven account, Patrick Cockburn, one of the bravest and most experienced correspondents reporting from the war, tells the story of Muqtada and his extraordinary rise to become what Canadian journalist Naomi Klein described as "the single greatest threat to U.S. military and economic control of Iraq." In these pages, Cockburn looks at the young cleric's family background, in particular the assassination of his father and two brothers by Saddam's hit men, his leadership of the 70,000-strong Mahdi army, the links between his movement Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Iranian leadership, and his frequent confrontations with the American military, including the pitched battle in the cemetery of Najaf and the recent mass demonstrations demanding an end to the occupation.This is no dry, academic treatise. Cockburn's account draws on dramatic, firsthand dealings with the Mahdi army, including a tense encounter at a roadblock outside Najaf in which he was nearly killed. However, although it often reads like an adventure story, Muqtada! provides a vital analysis of a movement that will be critical to the future of Iraq after the Americans leave.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cockburn (The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq), a veteran Middle East correspondent for The Independent, knew the Iraq occupation was doomed when, in 2004, his Irish passport saved him from certain death at the hands of Mehdi Army militiamen convinced he was an American spy: "Bush and Blair never seemed to understand that the problem was not training or equipment, but legitimacy and loyalty." Building on this idea, Cockburn takes a close look at Muqtada al-Sadr, the country's major Shi'ite opposition leader, who has been consistently demonized and belittled by U.S. authorities even as he gains legitimacy among Iraqis. Calling him "the most important and surprising figure to emerge" in post-invasion Iraq, Cockburn details Muqtada's rise, beginning in 1999 when he took his assassinated father's place as head of the Sadrists, a populist religious movement. Mounting frustration toward the U.S. led many to join the Sadrists, the only Shia group to oppose outright the occupation, quickly making Muqtada the political representative of millions. Cockburn's incisive critique of U.S. policy mistakes in Iraq goes back to the first invasion, and draws some dire conclusions, among them that it's too late for Iraq "to exist as anything more than a loose federation." This probing look at a singularly divisive, undoubtedly important figure makes an invaluable resource for anyone weighing U.S. policy in Iraq.
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Review

"Authoritative.... Americans need to learn more about [Muqtada al-Sadr], and Cockburn's empathetic, insightful study is a good place to start." ---The Washington Post

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416551476
• ISBN-13: 978-1416551478
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.3 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,069,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A brief (but presently the only) biography of perhaps the most important figure in Iraq. May 4, 2008

By Charles Fenwick

Format:Hardcover

General Petraeus' recent report to Congress contained the name of only one person. It was not Nouri Al-Maliki (Prime Minister of Iraq) or Abu Ayyub Al-Masri (head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq), but Muqtada Al-Sadr, the subject of this book. That, combined with the fact that it is the only biography of Sadr on the market establishes its importance.

In the first chapter, the author establishes his bona fides showing that he is not a journalist that never ventures out of the Green Zone. He gives a dramatic account of an incident with Sadr supporters at a check-point as he was attempting to travel to Najaf to interview an official within the Sadrist movement.

In the subsequent chapters, the reader receives a thumbnail sketch of the Shia in Iraq and offers a biography of Muqtada's predecessors in leading the movement, who were his father and his father's cousin. While seemingly sparse, it is actually the fullest account of their lives that can be found (in English, at least). Also, while some may balk that there are so many chapters that do not deal with Muqtada himself, it is absolutely vital context that allows the reader to understand the nature of the movement that Muqtada became the leader of.

Most of the balance of the book is devoted to Muqtada's role in the events following the invasion of Iraq. As was the case with the first chapter, the coverage is enhanced due to Cockburn's 'outside the safe zone' reporting.

The strength of the book lies in the biographical details on the Sadr's gained from personal interviews. They are to be found nowhere else and will certainly be a building block for any subsequent biographies. The book makes for lively reading and because of that, can easily be read in the span of an evening or two.

There are two flaws I found in the book, one fairly trivial, the other one representing a significant caveat. The trivial one lies in how the early chapters are written. They are very choppy chronologically, there are multiple points where the author gets ahead of himself and the reader is continually jumped back and forth between recent and distant past. The more significant one deals with topics outside of the biography. One example is how Cockburn breezily dismisses claims of Iranian support for the Sadr movement (in which the evidence was the roadside bombs being used) by stating that roadside bombs have been used since the 1920's. But there was more to the case than he reports: The damning evidence was the very specific design that was being used. Another is by offering Petraeus' statement on improved security in Baghdad and dismissing it with a statement that only a trickle of people have returned to their original neighborhood. Clearly, the two statements are not exclusive. It is unfortunate that his analysis and reporting of American leaders is wholly lacking the nuance and detail that exists when he deals with figures in the Sadrist movement.

The flaws notwithstanding, I was very glad to see this book's appearance and was pleased with it overall. As brief as it is, it still represents the most comprehensive account of Muqtada and his movement out there. While there will certainly be more thorough books in the future (it is practically a given that someone will attempt a comparison of Sadr's movement and Hizbollah), this will more than suffice for now. Four stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Personal View of the Shia Political Culture and Muqtada al-Sadr July 4, 2008

By Daniel Hurley VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The author provides both a first hand account of the Shia poltical environment after the fall of Saddam's regime as well as a history of the unique and bitter relationship between the Shia and Saddam that is most interesting for westerners as the author explains not only the conflicts between the Shia and Sunni but also between the Shia themselves. The book is not intended to be a bio of Muqtada al-Sadr but to underline his role in the Shia political conflicts within Iraq today. The most interesting aspects of the book is the telling of how the Shia were punished and killed during Saddam regime particularly Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr's father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. In summary yet informative detail, the author explains how the murder of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr caused a split among the Shia particularly those leaders that fled the country and then returned after Saddam's fall. The best example of this violent split is when Sayyid Abdul Majid al-Khoei returns to Iraq to assume a leadership role among the Shia but then is brutally murdered almost at Muqtada al-Sadr's door step. The slaughter of the Shia after the coalition stopped during Deset Storm, after encouraging an uprising, is well discussed with the bitterness it invoked along with the post Iraq war misunderstandings by the U.S. occupation most noted by Paul Bremmer. This is a very concise but well written educational look at the political situation in Iraq. My only criticism is that books in detail on the middle east should have a glossary of terms and a defined character list, for those less familar with middle east terms and titles, and I include myself, to assist the reader.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent but with some limitations April 20, 2008

By maskirovka VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

As an account of the violent and tragic recent history of Iraq's Shi'a, I would give this book five stars. I learned a great deal about the Shi'a faith and the Sadr Trend as well as about the other major Shi'a factions such as the Dawa and SCIRI. It's a pity that this account was not available and read by the policy makers before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It might have spared us some grief or at least explained a lot of Iraqi behavior that must have seemed inexplicable at the time.

But I couldn't help but think that the book was a little bit thin about the man mentioned in the title, Muqtada Sadr. Given the fact that the book is only 204 pages long (and not 240 as listed here) and the fact that Muqtada is not discussed until well into the book, that's not that surprising.

I also think that the book is less than authoritative when critiquing US policy inside Iraq. Unlike when he focuses on the politics of the Shi'a clergy, Cockburn doesn't seem to have done quite as thorough a job explaining why Paul Bremer and the other major American actors in Iraq thought and acted the way that they did.

I also think that the book bends over backwards to excuse, minimize, and rationalize the fact that the Iranians causing trouble for us in Iraq, trouble that is getting some of our people killed there. Cockburn never really provides the documentation for his claims that what the Iranians are doing doesn't amount to very much. He just makes the statement and lets it hang there as if it was unchallengeable.

But in the end, it's still well-worth reading. I just don't think that it's unbiased or the last word on the topic.