decisions...decisions...

bite off more than you can chew?

Muqtada al-Sadr will be the new dictator of Iraq. Maybe not in a year or five years, but he will be in charge eventually, and we will bitterly regret it.

He's propping up Iraq's "democratic" "secular" government, which is, in turn, doing nothing to challenge his authority. The U.S. isn't going to do anything about him, full well knowing that without him the government falls and he steps into the void anyway. Everyone is better off with him playing a de facto role, and that's how it's going to stay. He's now another U.S. ally that we can all be proud of.

"Today, Sadr City -- despite the presence of the Mahdi Army -- is one of the calmest areas of Baghdad."

I'd say not "despite" but "because". And lest you think I'm some kind of genius, there were at least two NY Times articles saying the same thing, though I'm too lazy to hunt for links. Think of it this way: who would you much rather trust, a bunch of infidel occupiers with guns or a bunch of your brothers in faith with guns? Who would you much rather have to police the streets of, say, Los Angeles, good ol' American cops or, Booji forbid, the Mahdi Army?

I think the overall mood of Iraqis towards Americans at the moment can be summed up as follows: "Thanks for nothing, assholes."

Did we just trade in Saddam for a Shiite version in the form of Muqtada al-Sadr? Yes, Sadr has been supporting the Maliki government, but everyone knows where the real power is. And once the U.S. leaves, they can drop all pretense.

And this is why we'll stay. Because Saddam II or Saddam-lite can't possibly be why 3,000 of our soldiers have died. And if we leave, the fiction of a stable Iraq democracy will crumble.

Geez, this friggin' sucks.

Let me see if I understand this: Sadr City is a comparatively quiet area of Baghdad with a peace maintained by a faction and militia that is an important part of the current Iraqi "government" with a great deal of support in the Iraqi Army we're asking to take over security in the country? And the last time we took this faction and militia on militarily all we did was incur casualties and increase their leader's popularity?

Bet the house, the college fund, the pension and that watch dad gave you for graduation. President Feeb will sent the Marines back into Sadr City.

I was going to say what FreeProton said, but FreeProton said it first. Not despite the Mahdi Army. Because of the Mahdi Army.

Duh.

not like hakim, in whose compound we found the iranian WMDs, i mean bombs. hakim is the presumed front-runner to be our new man among the shi'ites, despite his close ties to nazi germany, i mean iran. hakim also was a recent visitor to the white house.

When this article was published, I wrote, "Bet the house, the college fund, the pension and that watch dad gave you for graduation. President Feeb will sent the Marines back into Sadr City."

Kinda wish I'd followed my own investment advice.