Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Here are the conditions under which I will let you refrain from blasting me into grease...
Evil troll doll Muqtada Al-Sadr has apparently decided to negotiate with Coalition forces, without preconditions.
Personally, I was looking forward to the Marines taking him up on that "ready to die" promise he was apparently willing to stick to right up until the point we convinced him we were cool with that. Still, I suppose if there's a deal to be made, it should be.
Still, there are somethings not worth bargaining away. Al-Sadr is looking for a way out that preserves him as someone worth giving a crap about. The man seems to think there's an opening for him to either carve out a section of the country all his own, or possibly even take it over, to the extent Iran is willing to let him pretend to be in charge. It's important that any "deal" struck with Al-Sadr has two key public components: No private armies; and he recognizes he don't run squat. This may be more than Ayatollah Wannabe can accept, in which case we should go ahead and arrange the meeting between him and God. Treating anyone, especially a minor league cleric like this bozo, like a legitimate authority is only going to ask every two-bit Mullah Omar aspirant who got some fans through a good performance at a Friday Open Mic Night to form their own army and start trouble. And while we could kill them all eventually, if we can avoid having to, that would be better for everyone long-term than letting the snake continue to slither around on the expectation he won't bite.
Source material via Andrew Sullivan.
Personally, I was looking forward to the Marines taking him up on that "ready to die" promise he was apparently willing to stick to right up until the point we convinced him we were cool with that. Still, I suppose if there's a deal to be made, it should be.
Still, there are somethings not worth bargaining away. Al-Sadr is looking for a way out that preserves him as someone worth giving a crap about. The man seems to think there's an opening for him to either carve out a section of the country all his own, or possibly even take it over, to the extent Iran is willing to let him pretend to be in charge. It's important that any "deal" struck with Al-Sadr has two key public components: No private armies; and he recognizes he don't run squat. This may be more than Ayatollah Wannabe can accept, in which case we should go ahead and arrange the meeting between him and God. Treating anyone, especially a minor league cleric like this bozo, like a legitimate authority is only going to ask every two-bit Mullah Omar aspirant who got some fans through a good performance at a Friday Open Mic Night to form their own army and start trouble. And while we could kill them all eventually, if we can avoid having to, that would be better for everyone long-term than letting the snake continue to slither around on the expectation he won't bite.
Source material via Andrew Sullivan.
