What happens when Sadr returns?
Iraq’s Sadr uses lull to rebuild Army
Karbala, Iraq – For more than three months, the Mahdi Army has been largely silent. The potent, black-clad Iraqi Shiite force put down its guns in late August at the behest of Moqtada al-Sadr.
The move has bolstered improved security in Baghdad, even though the US says some Mahdi Army splinter groups that it calls “criminals” or “extremists” have not heeded Mr. Sadr’s freeze.
Many analysts say what may reemerge is an Iraqi version of Lebanon’s Hizbullah – a state within a state that embraces politics while maintaining a separate military and social structure that holds powerful sway at home and in the region. </em>
A version of Hizbullah in Iraq. I’m sure that’s what King George meant when he said:
…and Iraq will serve as a beacon for what is possible; a beacon of freedom in a part of the world that is desperate for freedom and liberty.
History will not be kind to what people did in our names, not kind at all.
