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Following are excerpts from an interview with Muqtada Sadr, leader of the Sadr movement in Iraq, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on November 3, 2011.
Muqtada Sadr: We draw the line – and it is a line we will not cross under any circumstances – at negotiations with the Americans. We consider negotiations with the Americans to be forbidden – something that runs counter to patriotism, to loyalty to the Iraqi people and land, and to Islam, above all. We cannot be involved in such a thing, directly or indirectly.
[...]
We will not accept any American presence in Iraq – military or otherwise.
Interviewer: What do you mean by "any presence"? What about embassies or consulates? Recently, the Americans have even considered opening a consulate in Kirkuk.
Muqtada Sadr: That's true. We are opposed to this, especially if the Americans remain in Iraq. In the past, I said that the opening of embassies should be conditional upon the total withdrawal of US forces from Iraqi soil. Afterwards [the Americans] will be able to hold discussions with the Iraqi officials with regard to the opening of a US embassy in Iraq, which will be reciprocated by an Iraqi embassy in the US. The embassies should be equivalent, not that we will send 15 people over there, while they keep 1,500 or 5,000 of God knows how many people here. There must be balanced relations between the Iraqi and US governments, in the event of withdrawal. However, in the event that they retain a presence, whether military or other – in the form of security companies and so on – they will be considered occupiers, and we will conduct resistance against them, whatever the price may be.
Interviewer: What do you think of the American desire to remain in Iraq in a civilian, rather than military, capacity?
Muqtada Sadr: We are against a civilian presence as well...
Interviewer: Why do you think that the Americans want this? What is their goal?
Muqtada Sadr: America came to Iraq not in order to protect it or to liberate it, but in order to turn Iraq into one of its military and civilian bases, and in order to complete its plans to globalize the world under its control. Iraq is the cradle of Islam, of Arabism, and of civilization, so the occupation of Iraq constitutes the occupation of all that surrounds it, and taking over the Middle East and the entire region.
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Interviewer: Do you doubt that the Americans will withdraw by the end of the year?
Muqtada Sadr: Yes, I doubt that they will do so. They might reduce... We don't need to go far. 5,000 people will remain in the embassy, a few thousands in the security companies, 6,000 instructors, and so on... That way, 25,000 soldiers will remain in Iraq. Today, there are 40,000. That means less than half the American soldiers will leave. This is a pseudo-withdrawal, not a full withdrawal.
Interviewer: What will you do? Will you fight...
Muqtada Sadr: Yes. If they remain, we will fight.
Interviewer: Militarily?
Muqtada Sadr: Yes.
Interviewer: But today you are...
Muqtada Sadr: Today, we have a unilateral truce.
Interviewer: In order to enable them to leave...
Muqtada Sadr: Right, we want to prevent them from claiming that they cannot leave because the resistance is still active and there is instability. No, there is stability, the resistance has opened the door for you – go, and never come back.
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If my finger was an occupier – I would chop it off. If the Americans weren't... But of course, the Americans aren't occupying Iraq only. They are occupying Islamic countries with which we have ties of friendship, religion, denomination, and so on. We have Islamic and human ties with them. It is not occupying Iraq only. True, the main concern has been Iraq and the US withdrawal from it. But the US is an occupying imperialistic country around the world, not only in Iraq.
Interviewer: But there is no harm in cooperating with the Americans with regard to technology, medicine, science...
Muqtada Sadr: After the withdrawal, there will be nothing to prevent it. If the US completely withdraws from Iraqi soil, the Iraqi government will be ready to sign agreements in the fields of technology, science, and culture, and so on.
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Interviewer: If the Americans withdraw, will the Mahdi Army lay down its arms?
Muqtada Sadr: Who would we use these weapons against? As long as there is occupation, we use weapons against it, but if the occupation leaves, and if the Mahdi Army is not needed for other matters, such as defending Iraq's
borders and so on, we will maintain only cultural, social, and religious activities.
[...]
During the battles against the Americans – we call it the first and second Intifadas – I used to go to the frontline in Najaf, near the American bases, to oversee the activity and meet the mujahideen...
Interviewer: Were you under fire?
Muqtada Sadr: Yes. The planes were circling above us, and I could see the [US] base. In Baghdad, as part of the operations against the Americans and their weapons and vehicles, I was present in order to oversee operations and give advice and instruction.
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