"Mookie" al-Sadr, feeling his oats, has issued an ultimatum:
Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gave a "final warning" to the government Saturday to halt a U.S.-Iraqi crackdown against his followers or he would declare "open war until liberation."
A full-blown uprising by al-Sadr, who led two rebellions against U.S.-led forces in 2004, could lead to a dramatic increase in violence in Iraq at a time when the Sunni extremist group al Qaeda in Iraq appears poised for new attacks after suffering severe blows last year.
Of course, most of the "dramatic increase in violence" of which the AP writes would be the slaughter of al-Sadr’s forces.
I’m put in mind of the Black Knight scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, wherein an un-limbed combatant just can not shut up:
Black Knight: Right, I'll do you for that!
King Arthur: You'll what?
Black Knight: Come here!
King Arthur: What are you gonna do, bleed on me?
