Posted on 11/26/2006 6:07:20 AM PST by Dark Skies
One way to understand Moqtada al-Sadr is to think of him as a young Mafia don. He aims for respectability, and is willing to kill for it. Yet the extent of his power isn't obvious to the untrained eye. He has no standing army or police force, and the Mahdi Army gunmen he employs have no tanks or aircraft. You could mistake him—at your peril—for a common thug or gang leader. And if he or his people were to kill you for your ignorance, he wouldn't claim credit. But the message would be clear to those who understand the brutal language of the Iraqi Street.
American soldiers who patrol Sadr's turf in Baghdad understand. They can spot his men. "They look like they're pulling security," says First Lt. Robert Hartley, a 25-year-old who plays cat and mouse with the Mahdi Army in the Iraqi capital. The Sadrists use children and young men as lookouts. When GIs get out of their Humvees to patrol on foot, one of the watchers will fly a kite, or release a flock of pigeons. Some of Sadr's people have even infiltrated top ranks of the Iraqi police. Capt. Tom Kapla, 29, says he knows who they are: "They look at you, and you can tell they want to kill you."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
This is the most detailed backstory I have found on mookie.
The only way to understand Moqtada al-Sadr is to think of him as an inbred hillbilly mutant.
Pretty accurate too.. Islam is NOT a religion it is a GANG..
with Cheney going to SA and the story being that the saudis will preach moderation (or something like that) to the sunnis, and "in return" the US will do the same (I forgot the exact terminology) wrt the "shia" (read al-sadrs militia and possibly Iran), I think we are in for a spectacular few weeks or months.......liquidating al-sadr and his horde, line the syrian border w/Iraq, and maybe even the Syrian/Leb border if the non-hezzie part of the Leb gov requests it......and above all, starting to let ahmadinejad that his free pass has expired.
Big order, I know, but I can hope, right?
You can tell this boy likes his Mallomars. Just look at his hat!
Hey!!!! Why are you inulting Hillbillies??? An inbred Democrat SanFrancisco Uber-Liberal OK -- just don't insult the Hillbillies from Deliverance like that.
LOL!!
He is one evil looking dude!
Mookie looks like a bizaaro Jack Black..
By the time President Bush leaves office, al-Sadr will have stood firm against the global superpower, and be ruling Iraq with an iron fist. For an "inbred hillbilly mutant", he's doing alright for himself.
Charles also claims such a descent. [Wonder what his Mom thinks about this.]
Iraq is not Vietnam. This enemy will follow us home (it already has). It intends to destroy Israel, the U.S., and Europe...and then the rest of the world.
Long story short, this is a war can't run from.
I just want to know why he is still breathing. I for one think it's time to pick a fight while we know we still have the political backing to do so.
The fact he isn't dead is a tetament to our lack of seriousness.
A guy from a security company said the U.S. hit something and that's all we've heard. But we can see the smoke. Well, we could before it got to be dusk which it's doing now.
They nailed the back story on al Sadr.
How many heads must the beast grow before it's time to kill him?
His threat to withdraw from the government comes at the same time as similar moves by Hez in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. Seems like a master anti-democratic strategy to me.
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