Sadr's Power

Here's a good piece analyzing the fire Bush is playing with in Iraq.

Much depends on the US military response to the Sadr rebellion, how it is put down and what happens to Mr Sadr in the aftermath. Mr Sadr’s militia has taken control over significant areas of Baghdad and the governor’s office in the British run city of Basra...

A bloody battle in Baghdad would likely only serve to alienate a huge segment of Iraq’s Shiite population and drive them into the arms of Mr Sadr.

Mr Sadr’s relatively young age, his lack of clerical credentials and inconsistent political pronouncements have stood between him and winning over educated middle-class Shiites in Baghdad and other cities.

But the cleric is backed by hundreds of young and energetic seminary students whose organisational skills and devotion to the memory of his father underpin his movement...

With that kind of devotion and organisation, Mr Sadr’s arrest or death in a battle with US troops is likely to further radicalise Iraq’s Shiite population.

Something tells me that the wisdom in fucking with this man is questionable at best. And at worst... I don't want to think about that right now.