Politics and Culture

Do you think macho/honor acculturated Muqtada al-Sadr liked being called a coward by female-American Rice? It's obvious that Iraq and the U.S. feel that al-Sadr is weak and have an opportunity to break him. Calling his bluff, as it were.

If moderate Shia and Sunni unite against Al Qaeda and Iran-backed regimes, that would be a good thing.

Here

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Rice, in the Iraqi capital to tout security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying. Al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question.