The al-Sadr Drumbeat Heats Up

The Pentagon now gets into the act, calling al-Sadr the most Dangerous man in Iraq, even worse than al Qaeda. From CNN:

Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army has replaced al Qaeda in Iraq as "the most dangerous accelerant" of the sectarian violence plaguing Iraq for nearly a year, according to a Pentagon report.

Attacks by Iraqi insurgents and sectarian militias jumped 22 percent from mid-August to mid-November, and Iraqi civilians suffered the bulk of casualties, according to the quarterly report released on Monday.

The problem is that while al-Sadr can easily escalate the violence, I'm not sure he can quell it and taking him out will certainly blow the lid off Iraq. He must be negotiated with, but he won't and things will get worse.