Demonstrators were flanked by two cordons of police as they called for U.S. forces to leave, shouting, "Get out, get out occupier!"

...The Najaf rally was ordered by Muqtada al-Sadr, the powerful Shiite cleric who a day earlier issued a statement ordering his militiamen to redouble their battle to oust American forces, and argued that Iraq's army and police should join him in defeating "your archenemy."

...A senior official in al-Sadr's organization in Najaf, Salah al-Obaydi, called the rally a "call for liberation."

...Al-Sadr, who commands an enormous following among Iraq's majority Shiites and has close allies in the Shiite-dominated government, urged his followers not to attack fellow Iraqis but to turn all their efforts to American forces.
--"Iraqis March in Honor of Baghdad's Fall," Lauren Frayer, Associated Press writer, Yahoo! news, April 9, 2007

The battles in Diwaniya have been the most violent in months between the Mahdi Army and the Americans, and could portend violence in other strongholds of the Sadr militia.
"Radical Shiite Cleric Calls on Iraqi Forces to Unite Against the U.S. Military," Edward Wong, New York Times, April 9, 2007


Some months ago, I printed up an article from either the New York Times or the Washington Post--don't remember which, now--and scrawled across the top, "Tipping Point."

The article detailed how, after a particularly horrific bombing in a Shiite marketplace in Baghdad, I think it was, the Mahdi Army and battallions of al-Sadr people fanned out in the neighborhood, offering aid and comfort.  They paid for funerals, gave aid to widows and children, took people to the hospital and paid their bills, and distributed food.

I told my husband then, that al-Sadr was setting himself up to be the ruler of Iraq, especially after taking 30 percent of the seats in Iraq's new parliament.  I was going to blog about it was busy at the time with my son's own second deployment to the Anbar with the Marines.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I read another article.  This one described how, some of the only functioning neighborhoods in Baghdad were in Sadr City.  Though it is a slum, these were some of the only marketplaces that were thriving, with children playing in parks and so on, because Mahdi Army supporters had protected the people and helped them rebuild. 

A merchant who was interviewed for the article said that, if "Sayyid Moqtada"--a term of respect and endearment--told him to leave his family, he would do it.

At the time, al-Sadr had ordered his militia to lie low and cooperate with the so-called "surge" of American and Iraqi troops.  It's been speculated that he did this because some of the lieutenants in his militia were getting, as we say here in Texas, "too big for their britches," and going rogue or independent.  So he didn't seem to mind them being arrested.

Then, a few days ago, the Americans got into a pitched battle in Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad, with milita forces.  It is unclear whether al-Sadr ordred the militia to fight, or whether they started it on their own, but after a few days--when the Americans called in an air strike on a house--al-Sadr ordered the militia to fight back "to defend their homes."

Yesterday, the Mahdi Army gathered up many busloads of loyalist followers to al-Sadr, to take to Najaf and launch a major protest of American occupation.  They were ordered to carry or display Iraqi flags.  The next day, Baghdad was covered with Iraqi flags, and tens of thousands marched peacefully in Najaf against "the occupiers."

And then, in a missive that bore al-Sadr's official seal, came the orders for his militia to stop fighting one another (presumably, other Shiite militias and Sunnis) and to fight Americans and any Iraqis who helped them as we are, apparently, their "archenemy."

Twice now, American forces have engaged the Mahdi Army, and both times, they fought viciously and wound up more powerful than before, even though, technically, our forces are vastly superior to them and were able to subdue them at the time. 

But it's not about military force or armaments.

It's about paying hospital bills, burying the dead, and providing food and protection--something the no-bid Halliburton contractors did not do.  Would not do.  Something Rumsfeld/Bush/Cheney did not care about.

As they so ably proved in New Orleans, there is something unforgettably powerful about helping someone in need--providing rescue, rebuilding, food, medical care, and kindness.  Our country had a magnificent opportunity to do so in Iraq, but just as they did with all our other great opportunities, the Bush administration squandered it.

And now they hate us.

I am convinced it is, and has likely long been, al-Sadr's plan to maneuver his way into a position of great power in Iraq.  That country is far too divided for him to have anything approaching absolute power, but enough to give us many many headaches, particularly when you consider his ties with Iran.  You can bet Iranian money had a lot to do with those robust neighbhorhoods in Sadr City.

So in this New War, we'll be fighting al Qaeda in the Anbar, Sunnis in Baghdad, Shiite extremists in Basra and other hotspots...and now the Mahdi Army, which is believed to be 100,000 strong.

Al-Sadr calls the American forces "The Army of Darkness."

He can whip up his mostly-illiterate followers into hatred for our men and women; it's not hard to do, when you consider the lives most Iraqis, especially the poor Iraqis who hero-worship him, live.

I just sent another beloved nephew into that hellhole.  I probably won't say where he will be, but trust me when I say it will be one of the worst areas in the country.  This will be our sixth family deployment to that miserable country, and I am deeply anxious for the safety of my nephew Troy. 

Kathy, one of the Marine moms who reads and posts on Blue Inkblots, just sent her son over there with the Marines.

These are sweet boys--warriors, yes--but not devils.  Not archenemies.  They're not going over there to destroy but to protect.  And I fear for them all in this new war.

Bush can claim "progress" all he wants to in Baghdad, but all over that godforsaken country, it's a whole new war.

Watch and see.  The tipping point has long since passed.