We need to flush him out. By shaming him.
If he returns to Iraq, we should bust him. If he doesn't return, he'll bust his credibility. Either way, it looks like Muqtada's previously sound instincts failed him this time. He made the wrong call by sending himself into exile.
What should we do now? In addition to taunting Mookie in public, we need to hit his organization even harder - while he's hiding and his courage is in doubt. Nobody wants to die for a braggart who bails out when the flak starts.
I had worried that Sadr might be too popular to tackle directly even as I advocated doing something about him. Apparently he is not terribly popular.
A quiet surge to take down his organization without inspiring anybacklash among Shias is what is needed. If Sadr's actual strength is as shallow as recent days make it seem to be, we don't need to wait for more troops to do so.
Take down the fanatics, convert the reasonable, and nail Sadr. There really is a cycle of violence in Iraq as Sunnis who might be ready to essentially surrender after years of fighting inevitable defeat continue to kill out of fear of being killed by Shia thugs.
And if the daily killing sprees in Baghdad subside, we will have bought the time we need to finally defeat the many forces that fight democracy and peace in Iraq.
We haven't caused this cycle of violence but we could interrupt it. Starting with the Idiot Sadr.
