Iraq's maverick cleric hits the books (Al-Sadr seeks to become an ayatollah)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - The leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite militia movement has quietly resumed seminary studies toward attaining the title of ayatollah — a goal that could make firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army an even more formidable power broker in Iraq.

Al-Sadr's objectives — described to The Associated Press by close aides — are part of increasingly bitter Shiite-on-Shiite battles for control of Iraq's southern oil fields, the lucrative pilgrim trade to Shiite holy cities and the nation's strategic Persian Gulf outlet.

The endgame among Iraq's majority Shiites also means long-term influence over Iraqi political and financial affairs as the Pentagon and its allies look to scale down their military presence in the coming year.

Al-Sadr's backers remain main players in the showdowns across the region, where fears of even more bloodshed are rising following Wednesday's triple car bombing in one of the area's main urban hubs. At least 25 people were killed and scores wounded.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_ayatollah_al_sadr

[rockybelt]

1. Al-Sadr

stood his militia down about six months ago and has been using his time to his advantage ever since. That is one of the reasons for the decline in American casualties. How long can this "truce" last?

al-Sadr has been busy regrouping his militia and re-arming them, in a large part, with American made weapons, and I believe he intends to use them against the U.S. Remember he really doesn't like the U.S. being on his soil-nor does any other Middle Easterner- and he intends to do something about it. Namely kill Americans with their own weapons.

President Bush is such a military genius and compassionate person. So was Hitler--he thought.