More political resistance to Bush from his purported Iraqi allies

By Heraclitus

Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, a leading Shia politician and theologian in Iraq, has publicly criticized the US military's arrest of five Iranian "diplomats." Hakim is close with Bush and has American support (he recently met with Bush in the White House), and also has the backing of Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the most powerful Shia religious figure in Iraq (by the way, did you know that Sistani has his own web site?). But Hakim is also on friendly terms with Iran, where he spent many years in exile. Hakim is discussed in this video clip I put up last week, as the likely successor to Maliki when the latter is turned out by the Americans. For him to publicly rebuke Bush's attempt to move on Iran is noteworthy and, one hopes, will help convince Bush and his underlings to stop playing "mine is bigger than yours" with Iran.