Gå hjem og vug

Moktada al-Sadr er en sjov én. Her er The Independents uundværlige Patrick Cockburn om Mahdi-Hærens tilbagetog sidste måned:

All over Baghdad and southern Iraq, supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shia cleric, are harassed, on the run or in jail. The black-shirted gunmen of his Mehdi Army militia no longer rule in Shia parts of Baghdad, Basra and Amara where once their control was total.

A great survivor of Iraqi politics, Mr Sadr is living in the Iranian holy city of Qom, where he is studying to elevate his position within the Shia religious hierarchy. It was from there, to the dismay of many followers, that he ordered his Mehdi Army fighters to go home and allow the Iraqi army to penetrate their strongholds.

"Muqtada has acute political instincts but he is a terrible organiser," said an Iraqi secular politician who knows him well. "He is a complete anarchist," he added, with a laugh. "But the government is not going to succeed in destroying his movement, though his prestige has been damaged."

Det forklarer jo en del: Hvorfor sadristerne nærmest ensidigt nedlagde våbnene efter våbenhvilerne kom i stand, og hvorfor de trak sig væk fra gaderne efter at have kæmpet sig til stilstand i både Basra og Sadr By. Men hvorfor de blot finder sig i at blive røvpulet af regeringsstyrkerne nu; jeg fatter det ikke.

Igen er Irak et mørke for udenforstående. Krigsnørden Gary Brecher spekulerer at Moktada er i færd med at professionalisere sin guerillastyrke. Måske har han valgt at springe lokalvalgene over, for at fokusere på amerikanerne i stedet. Men måske han også bare sidder i Qom og læser, lykkeligt ligeglad med hjemstavnen. Underligt er det i hvert fald. Libanesiske Hizbollah skyder heller ikke på andre libanesere, men de lagde sig ikke på ryggen, da den libanesiske regering for nyligt forsøgte at hive Hizbollahs eget telefonnet op med rode.