Grand (not really) Ayatollah Sistani lied. After last elections, Sistani (seen above while resting uncomfortably in his hospital bed in London last year) said that he would not endorse any list. Well, he lied. Yesterday, he issued an edict in which he urged his adherents to follow three guidelines: 1) that they vote in the elections; 2) that they vote for the list that is headed by a religious leader [i.e. `Abdul-`Aziz Al-Hakim]; 3) that they not vote for the smaller parties that may fragment their vote. This only reinforces the consolidation of the Shi`ite republic in Iraq, brought to you by Bush's doctrine. By the way, have you noticed how frequent elections are in Iraq? They seem to occur every other week. Do you have doubt that this dictated by US occupation to use the symbols and images of elections in order to compensate for the lack of democracy? They need the images for propaganda purposes. Don't you think? After this election for example, the US has urged Iraqi to vote for their favorite dishes, and a month later, they will vote for their favorite color, and then their favorite character on Family Guy.

PS. That title Ayatollah. Which is Arabic for Ayat Al-Lah (Sign of God). The first person to acquire that title in Shi`ite Islam is Al-Hasan Bin Yusuf Bin Al-Mutahhar Al-Hilli (b. 1250AD). Yet, the title was not used for centuries after him. After him, Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi (d. 1699AD) attained that title while engaging Sufis rhetoric and discourse. And Muhammad Baqir bin Akmal Al-Bahbahani (known as Al-Wahid) (d. 1791) also acquired that title. In the 18th century, when the conflict between the Usulis and Akhbaris characterized Iranian Shi`ism, the title was used. But Grand Ayatollah was not used until 1961 when Husayn Al-Burujardi emerged as the sole religious leader in Qum. The title of `Allamah may also have first been used by Al-Hasan Bin Yusuf Al-Hilli. (For further study, read Al-Qazwini, Jawdat, Tarikh Al-Mu'assasa-d-Diniyya-sh-Shi`iyyah (Beirut: Dar Ar-Rafidayn, 2005). For the various titles used by caliphs in Islamic history, I still like Thomas Arnold's The Caliphate (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1924--I think it was 1924).