Mookie Al-Sadr, paunchy moderate-cleric-murderin' city-attacking Shiite rabble rouser, floated up from his hidey-hole and criticized the US and Saddam. He's been scarce since a warrant went out for his arrest in connection with the murder of a rival cleric.

Buddy, try the Al-Atkins

Yeah, he's a creep. The actual news here is that Ahmed Chalabi is helping him negotiate the dismissal of the indictment. I am conflicted about Chalabi's role in Iraq; people who know far more about Iraq than I do are sharply divided about whether Chalabi is a true Iraqi patriot or a self-dealing opportunist. The Fox article is a little vague about Chalabi's role, but any association with al-Sadr looks bad for him.

Let's remember what else al-Sadr did besides allegedly arranging the murder of a respected, moderate Shiite cleric and being a suspect in assorted other assassinations and sundry other anti-US activities. He also destroyed a Gypsy village (Qawliya) for immorality back in 2004. His mob leveled the town with machine guns, RPG's, and mortars when the village refused to give up a woman to stand trial for prostitution in Sadr's kangaroo religious court. An excellent dossier on all his Sadrmizing can be found in, of all places, Newsweek.

This murdering thug must not be allowed to return to a place of public power and respectability in Iraq.

UPDATE: CAPTION MOOKIE!
e.g., "We must sit on the American Infidels and crush them beneath our enormous Islamic butt!"

Posted by: seedubya at 04:03 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
Post contains 251 words, total size 2 kb.

By Matt from WMD:

From Reuters:

Kuwait's parliament passed a law on Monday granting women the right to vote and run in elections, for the first time in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state.

Kuwaiti women lining the podium burst into cheers when parliament speaker Jassim al-Khorafi said the legislation had been passed by a majority of the all-male parliament to grant full suffrage to women.

"We made it. This is history," said prominent activist Roula al-Dashti. "Our target is the parliamentary polls in 2007. I'm starting my campaign from today," she told reporters.

There were 35 in favor, 23 against, and one abstention on the vote that had met fierce resistance from Islamists and other MPs.

This is a step in the right direction for the Middle East.

Does anybody think this sort of thing would be happening if Saddam were still in power?

Visit Matt's home blog: Weapons of Mass Discussion

Posted by: MattWMD at 12:41 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
Post contains 178 words, total size 1 kb.

By Matt from WMD:

The word has been tossed about with little regard for what it actually means and for purposes both sacred and profane, but what does it really mean to be a patriot?

Most people confuse patriotism with nationalism, which couldn't be further from the definition of actual patriotism if it were spoken on another planet. George William Curtis:

A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains and rivers and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.

Allegiance to the land is not patriotism. One of the greatest statements of patriotism is the Pledge of Allegiance wherein we express our loyalty to the Republic for which the flag represents. Our Republic is more than just the land: it includes our system of laws which provides for our civil rights, and our way of life as revealed in the promise of the American Dream. more...

Posted by: MattWMD at 09:09 AM | Comments (24) | Add Comment
Post contains 760 words, total size 5 kb.