The Enemy Of Our Enemy Is?

Oops, I guess he's our enemy too. By now you've surely heard that Saddam Hussein's executioners were yelling Muqtada al-Sadr's name as a taunt to the soon-to-be executed. That may only be half true. Yes, al-Sadr's name can be heard on the video, but it might not have been why it was being yelled.

It is now known that the masked men in the video were members of the Madhi Army, who had pushed aside government official to perform the lynching, but according to the Saudi Arabian newspaper al-Riyad one of those men was, in fact, the Mookie himself. From The Counter Terrorism Blog:

According to the Saudi daily Al Riyad, citing a witness to the execution of Hussein, one of the masked men was indeed Moqtada Al Sadr. Knowing that Saddam Hussein had Moqtada's father killed, this would not be surprising. In fact the son would want to take part in taking revenge. But if this turns out to be true, this would be another major faux pas for Iraqi authorities.

In fact Moqtada's militia has not only targeted coalition troops but also Sunnis, including mostly civilians. This event could further the gap between Sunnis and Shias around the world especially in Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

What does the Mookie get for his trouble, aside from some satisfaction that he killed the man that killed his father? Escalation. It is beyond doubt now that when George Bush escalates this war, it will be to take on al-Sadr.

On that note, what should we expect. Casualties, lots of them. One thing you have to realize is that right now we are fighting a rather small percentage of the population. Sunni insurgents are responsible for an overwhelming percentage of our casualties. They only represent 20% of the population of Iraq.

We are now going to fight against a much larger Shia population as well. Casualty figures could easily double or more once we pick this fight. Even if we dispatch al-Sadr rather quickly, which we will unless he flees to Iran, the prospect of the Shia joining in on daily IED attacks is not going to be pleasant.

The butcher's bill just went up.

Sidenote: I realize that this is rumor, but in that part of the world rumor and fact are two forms of the same currency. Dollar bills vs dollar coins.