They're just wild about Sadr

IraqPundit on the Sadr swoon.

I can't get enough of these fawning Western stories about Moktada Al Sadr and his gang, and the reason is that they're so revealing. I mean, if an American journalist shapes his or her dispatches according to the U.S. military spin, then they risk being dismissed within their profession as dupes or propagandists. But hand your coverage over to the spinmeisters for a drooling jackass like Moktada – describe his new furniture, call him "high-minded" without ever meeting him -- and you're doing award-winning journalism.

On NPR the other day, the host and a reporter were trying to figure out "what makes Muqtada Sadr tick." He says he's opposed to the sectarian violence, yet his supporters are behind much of that violence. He's joined in the political process, yet he also works outside that process. What a conundrum!