The violent Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army is breaking into splinter groups, with up to 3,000 gunmen now financed directly by Iran and no longer loyal to the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, adding a potentially even more deadly element to Iraq's violent mix.
The Pentagon confirms this development:
At the Pentagon, a military official confirmed there were signs the Mahdi Army was splintering. Some were breaking away to attempt a more conciliatory approach to the Americans and the Iraqi government, others moving in a more extremist direction, the official said.
But I'm not a trained AP writer trained in the nuances of reporting. You see:
The breakup is an ominous development at a time when U.S. and Iraqi forces are working to defeat religious-based militias and secure Iraq under government control.
Ah, tens of thousands of Mahdi Army militias are bad. But when the militia splinters it is ominous:
The information indicates a disintegrating organization yet a potentially even more dangerous foe, they revealed, on condition that their names not be used.
This is a good thing, people. I've called for dividing the militia so we can take out the stone cold Persian-paid killers while absorbing the militias that are simply interested in protecting their neighborhoods from Sunni Arab terrorists. And now the real killers are revealing themselves as Persian puppets--not exactly a winning hand.
Remember, the expression is "divide and conquer." It is not "divide and get our asses kicked."
Splintering an enemy force is good. Trying to portray it as a bad development is just bizarre.
But I am far from wise in the ways of the Associated Press.
