Muqtada rears his ugly head again

Muqtada al-Sadr is stirring up trouble in the south again. al-Sadr has been consistently portrayed by the media as a popular hero, but more careful analyses have revealed that his support is "shallow" and comes mostly from Iran, not Iraq.

Iraqi bloggers have spoken of al_Sadr with open contempt, and his present flareup has them calling for "serious action" and even his death.

The Iraqi government appears to be fully backing an effort to arrest or kill al-Sadr and be done with him. This is a significant step, because imams in the Muslim world have been above the law. Unfortunately, it appears that Iranian agents have been rearming al-Sadr's thugs, so this could get very bloody, but don't look for Iraqis to complain. Most are pretty tired of al-Sadr's antics and just want him to go away.

The next few weeks could be crucial for the success of the new Iraq.