The new question about The Wanker, aka al-Sadr is whether or not, and under what conditions he should find himself facing a bullet or a rope. Interestingly enough, my answer is to use subterfuge.
You see, Maliki has said what was necessary to say, which was that all militias will need to be disbanded in order to be in compliance with Iraqi law. There was no exception given for (whats left of) The Madhi Army. al_Sadr brings 30 seats to the Iraqi Parliament and Maliki depends on those seats to maintain power. So there is an advantage to driving a wedge between al-Sadr and his militia.
If al-Sadr wants to go legit, that is to avoid arrest for the murder charges that are possibly still floating out there, he's going to have to go seriously political. al-Sadr therefore must make a choice between some influence over the new Iraqi Army and police forces, and the ragtag irregulars who rule the streets (sorta) of Sadr City. So the Ballot or Bullet choice is on al-Sadr's head.
The symbolism of breaking al-Sadr may not go far enough, however. It seems to me that the Iraqi people are siding with the people in front of them, and the those today are the militias. But I think our best deal is letting al-Sadr face re-election rather than a firing squad.
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