Al Sadr
Stumbling upon the headline today, Influential Iraqi cleric Sadr rejects constitution, my first thought was, "isn't he a little late?"

Mulling it over a little further, I was a little concerned what, if any, impact this might have on the formation of Iraq's government. My understanding is that al-Jaafari's selection as Prime Minister hinged on a bloc of votes from Sadr supporters. Prior to that, I hadn't heard anything about the guy since Sistani slapped him down almost two years ago, when he was occupying an Islamic holy site. My impression then was that he was a punk thug, who severely overreached his capacities in his attempt to take advantage of the power vaccuum in the wake of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

With his reappearance in the Iraqi political landscape, I thought I'd see if I could find any Iraqi assessments of the man. I settled upon this one:

IraqPundit: Mighty Moktada Al Sadr:

Excerpt:

"Unlike most of the American media, Iraqi Shiites know that Sadr never completed his religious education, and that matters to them. He comes off as an idiot on TV, and that matters to them, too. Plus, Sadr's mental history is the subject of some truly lurid gossip well known to many Iraqis, and that matters as well.

The fact is that mainstream Shiites who seek clerical leadership have a group of perfectly respectable clerics to choose from. Furthermore, such Shiites constitute a culture that values age, which they associate with study and wisdom. All that the young, inarticulate, and probably crazy Sadr has going for him is his distinguished family name. Even so, there
are other respectable Shiite names in Iraq. The case of Ahmad Chalabi's failed political efforts should prove that a respected family name takes one only so far."

So, I guess my opinion of Sadr's potential to derail the Iraqi political process hasn't much changed since '04. He's still a punk thug who overestimates his own power and influence. Punk thugs are dangerous, and he may cause some mayhem; but I don't think he'll affect the big picture in a meaningful way. - served up by Nomad @ 2:15 PM