Mahdi Mouse

Well this weekend marked the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to American forces after just twenty days of combat.

Naturally there was time taken to mark this important date. Local militia and AQ duked it out in one town. American forces rounded up some supporters of the Mahdi army. People by the thousands marhed from Najaf calling for the foreign forces to leave. Amazingly this march was completely peaceful.

So in paradise a serpent had to slither in. This took the form of Al-Sadr, ertswhile leader of the Mahdi Army and one time collaborator in the current Iraqi government. He called upon all the Iraqi people to join together, forget differences, and drive out the foreign invaders. Fascinating his speech is if true. Calling upon Sunni, Shia, and Kurd to band together as one nation; sounds like the government that is already in place that was democratically elected. And to drive out foreign invaders, does he mean the Coalition only or AQ also? A pretty vague statement that could allow al-Sadr some wiggle room in the future but interesting none the less.

What is also vague is where is al-Sadr now? The US and Iraqi government say al Sadr has fled to Tehran since General Petreaus' crackdown started. While al Sadr supporters say he is in Iraq. This mystery could be solved very easily if al Sadr had lead the demonstration in Najaf, but he was no where to be seen. So I guess the Mahdi Mouse is in Tehran issuing his so brave pronouncements. Who does he remind me of? Saddam in his bunkers hiding? Maybe. Nasrallah in Lebanon hiding? Yep that is the schnook I was thinking of. What wonderful company al Sadr keeps.