Tidbits

A cartoon in the most recent Newsweek shows Uncle Sam, looking anxious, striped tophat in hand, sitting across from the gypsy fortune teller as she gazes into the glow of her crystal ball. Uncle Sam asks, "Can you tell me about my future"? She replies, "Hmmm... I would, but I can't read Chinese!" Well done! And perhaps too likely for comfort.

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I read that the black-clad, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has returned from "self-imposed exile in Iran". It seems he is the spiritual leader of the majority Shiites and is adored by untold thousands (millions?). Of course, the minority Sunnis that the U.S. invasion toppled from power are not among his devotees. His Mahdi militia killed many Sunnis in the chaotic sectarian bloodbath that convulsed the country in the aftermath of the invasion. Newsweek featured him on the cover during that time both because he was a major player in events shaping Iraq and he seemed to dislike Americans as much as Sunnis. He was a menacing figure, striding forward with black robes swirling, head angled downward, scowling into the camera through bushy black brows. In a way I was reminded of the infamous Ayatollah Khomeini. Although Sadr seems dangerous in a thuggish way and Khomeini had the air of the true fanatic, pitiless and merciless. I fail to see how people are drawn to and worship such men. Perhaps attempts to understand would lead to despair.

It was reported that Sadr was occupied with religious studies during his years in Iran and intends to continue with those studies in Iraq. Cynical me, I was wondering if those studies included new and even more diabolical ways to manipulate the credulous, illiterate minds of his subjects and gain even greater power.