Sadr -- feared by some, reviled by others and revered by a broad swath of Iraq's urban poor -- is now a kingmaker in Iraqi politics. It's a role that Sadr, the scion of a prominent clerical family, has been building toward since 2003.
Years ago, I argued emphatically that we needed to kill Moqtada al-Sadr, the Iranian hand puppet who has fronted insurrections twice in 2004 and resisted the Charge of the Knights offensive in 2008.
Is he truly a "kingmaker" as the article says? Well, Sadr has failed multiple times to prove his popularity in Iraq. I don't think that many Iraqis really want an Iranian puppet to lead them.
But he does have some support that will follow him into the streets and the Iranians will back him. I suspect that Mookie will resort to violence yet again--it's what he does. If we let him live after yet another attempt to seize power, we'll deserve whatever we get in Iraq.
