Iraq cleric: U.S. behind kin's death

Iraqi men mourn over the coffin of Riyad al-Nuri, director of the Sadr movement's office in Najaf, April 11, 2008. AFP PHOTO/QASSEM ZEIN (Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

by Frank James

Among the many problems for the U.S. in Iraq is that much of what happens there is beyond American control. There are just too many different actors with too many various motives for the U.S. to reliably steer the situation often enough in a direction that serves American interests.

The reminders of that are many, constant and stark such as today's assassination in Najaf of Riyadh al-Nuri, the brother-in-law of Moqtada al Sadr, the cleric who leads the Mahdi Army. Al-Nuri ran al-Sadr's office in Najaf, a holy city to Shia Muslims.

It's unclear, at least from the reporting coming out of Iraq, who's behind it. But it could have been any number of directions. For instance, it may have been a rival Shia group. Or a criminal gang. Or someone with ties to the Iraq government. Or an honor killing. Or someone in al-Nuri's own family. You get the picture.

Al-Sadr is laying blame where you'd expect, at the feet of the U.S. "occupiers." This is pretty standard for al-Sadr who has blames Americans virtually everytime there's a major killing or bombing.

This is how the Associated Press is reporting the story:

By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has blamed the United States and the Iraqi government for the death of a senior aide in the holy city of Najaf.

The cleric's office issued a statement in which al-Sadr promises he won't "forget this precious blood" but he urges his followers to "be patient."

Friday's statement comes hours after Riyadh al-Nouri was gunned down as he drove home after attending prayers. Al-Nouri was the director of al-Sadr's office in Najaf.

Al-Sadr accuses "the hands of the occupiers and their tails" of being responsible for the attack. The terms are often used by the Sadrists to describe the United States and the Iraqi government that it supports.

In fact, the U.S. couldn't even keep Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from launching his recent Basra attack.

Today's attack is just the latest reminder of the limits even faced by the world's only superpower in shaping the course of events in Iraq. It's an unfortunate certainty there will be many more.