Posted by
Dawnsblood on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 6:12:16 PM
Uncle Jimbo tells us that
the Ayatollah is on board and that is a good thing. Even though he doesn't seem to have the influence he had in '03, he has gobs more than we do and hopefully more than Sadr.
But Ayatollah Sistani has grown increasingly distressed
as the Shiite-led government has proved incapable of taming the
violence and improving public services, Shiite officials say. He now
appears to be backing away from his demand that the Shiite bloc play
the dominant political role and that it hold together at all costs,
Iraqi and Western officials say.
As the effective arbiter of a Shiite role in the
planned coalition, the ayatollah is considered critical to the Iraqi
and American effort.
American officials have been told by
intermediaries that Ayatollah Sistani "has blessed the idea of forming
a moderate front," according to a senior American official. "We
wouldn't have gotten this far without his support."