Three-time insurrectionist Moqtada al-Sadr was allowed to live to fight another day. Maybe he is no longer in thrall to Iran. But his hunger for power is also a problem for Iraq and America.
The political movement of nationalist Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has quietly come to dominate the apparatus of the Iraqi state. This could pose problems for the United States and Iran.
Do read it all.
The most direct problems are for Iraq, which doesn't need a man who will take whatever path open to him to gain power. Would he ever leave voluntarily if he gets power in the October elections?
Moqtada al-Sadr--"Mookie"--wants to lead Iraq in 2021. Violence may be part of his election strategy. I hope Iraqis do not put their trust in that three-time insurrectionist who has Iran's fingerprints all over him. I've heard claims he turned against Iran but Sadr cannot be trusted. He is dangerous whether he is beholden to foreign masters or just to his own limitless ambitions.
I've long believed we'd rue the day we let that man survive his multiple uprisings. And here we are.
Is Iraq's system strong enough to survive such a man and carry out scheduled future reasonably fair elections to replace him? Or will Sadr use democracy to impose his own regime combining church and state?
