Muqtada al-Sadr to the U.S. imperial forces: "Piss Off!"

In a delightful story we've been following here at LJ, a Shiite Muslim cleric named Muqtada al-Sadar is finding himself under the watchful eye of U.S. forces after claiming to have formed his own government and for promoting non-violent protests against the U.S. occupation. I'm not sure how much clout this yahoo has in Iraq, but several points deserve attention.

First, U.S. occupation of Iraq will never be "successful" unless Iraqis enslave themselves, that is, unless some Iraqis join the dark side. As such, "Iraq's U.S.-appointed interior minister went on a coalition broadcast inside the country on Tuesday to denounce al-Sadr as 'a common criminal and a disgrace to his country and his religion.'" The great mystery of a dictator or gang gaining and maintaining power is really no mystery at all, people support it! And besides, shouldn't these guys be more concerned about finding the Hitleresque Saddam?

Second, while I thought I was in the dark over Muqtada's capabilities in Iraq, the U.S. government, of course, is stumbling around the room running looking for the light switch! Apparently, "Pentagon officials said they also are unsure how many men belong to al-Sadr's militia, the Imam al-Mahdi Army, and how well armed the group is."

Chaos, I love it!