Moqtada al Sadr, an insurrectionist who engaged in three fights against American and Iraqi forces during the war, is coming back to Iraq, tanned, rested, and ready to destabilize the already fragile Iraq:
Iraq’s nascent democracy faces a new dilemma: whether or not to embrace the political comeback of a former militia leader. Muqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shia cleric, has launched a public relations campaign, rebranding himself as a voice of sectarian harmony. Should Iraqis welcome Sadr with open arms, or be wary of his new persona?
Sadr first made a name for himself as an erratic demagogue who stoked sectarian fighting and helped bring Iraq’s young democracy to its knees. From 2003 to 2008, Sadr’s Mahdi Army took up arms against successive Iraqi governments and committed widespread atrocities against the country’s Sunni minority, in addition to targeting U.S. installations and personnel until American forces left Iraq at the end of 2011.
Then, last spring, he abruptly changed course, and he has spent the past year reforming his image and serving as a voice of moderation in Iraq. Sadr now openly decries violence, advocates the peaceful resolution of Iraq’s political disputes, and prays with religious leaders from other faiths and sects.
Are you freaking kidding me? Should Iraq welcome him or be wary of him? The question should be do you shoot him on the spot or arrest him?
We have a saying that goes, "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." We don't even bother going to the fourth cycle! Yet the headquarters of our foreign policy elite at FUBARCOM thinks it is a dilemma to decide what to do about Sadr's return to Iraq after his long stay in Iran? There isn't enough data to conclude he isn't going to be a voice of moderation in Iraq? This is what our best and brightest ponder? Should Sadr be embraced or not?
That murderous bastard Sadr is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such. Even if he has truly repented of his bloody past, he has a very bloody past and should be held accountable for it rather than thanked for temporarily setting aside his violent side. But Iraqis should be grateful that Sadr no longer kills Iraqis? Really?
Sadr has more than enough American blood on his hands to earn the attention of SEAL Team 6, regardless of what the Iraqis decide. If Sadr isn't on an Obama administration drone kill list, there is something seriously wrong with our targeting matrix. Why would we risk Iran making up lost ground in Syria by gaining ground in Iraq?
Hey, we want to support democracy and rule of law in Iraq. So I'm definitely in favor of the Iraqis arresting, trying, and executing Sadr in that order. But if that three-time insurrectionist and Iran fan boy isn't taken out of the Iraqi political system, he'll bring down the pillars of the state yet. Or are we capable of being fooled a fourth time?
Good God, it's noon somewhere, isn't it?
