tequila
05-15-2007, 09:22 AM
Old name = Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq
New name = Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council
I suppose because the Revolution is over, and they won. :eek:
Iraqslogger rounds up the Iraqi newspapers' analyses (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2745/Iraqi_Papers_Sat_SCIRI_No_More). The biggest switch is supposedly the replacement of the party's spiritual leader, formerly Ayatollah Khamanei of Iran, with Ayatollah al-Sistani. This represents a move away from the Khomeini-style/Iranian ideal of wilayet al-fiqh, or religious rule with al-Sistani's softer Islamism which sees the Shia clerical hierarchy as primarily moral judges outside of government. SIIC again reiterates its support for federalism and a large Shia-dominated southern region. The Kurds also support this.
Scholar Reider Visser (http://historiae.org/khamenei.asp)is skeptical here. Given SCIRI/SIIC's long association with Iran and the IRGC, I doubt there is really a big policy shift here.
Prof. Juan Cole's (http://www.juancole.com/2007/05/sciri-adopts-sistani-emphasizes.html)analysis.
New name = Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council
I suppose because the Revolution is over, and they won. :eek:
Iraqslogger rounds up the Iraqi newspapers' analyses (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2745/Iraqi_Papers_Sat_SCIRI_No_More). The biggest switch is supposedly the replacement of the party's spiritual leader, formerly Ayatollah Khamanei of Iran, with Ayatollah al-Sistani. This represents a move away from the Khomeini-style/Iranian ideal of wilayet al-fiqh, or religious rule with al-Sistani's softer Islamism which sees the Shia clerical hierarchy as primarily moral judges outside of government. SIIC again reiterates its support for federalism and a large Shia-dominated southern region. The Kurds also support this.
Scholar Reider Visser (http://historiae.org/khamenei.asp)is skeptical here. Given SCIRI/SIIC's long association with Iran and the IRGC, I doubt there is really a big policy shift here.
Prof. Juan Cole's (http://www.juancole.com/2007/05/sciri-adopts-sistani-emphasizes.html)analysis.