In Iraqi South, Shiites press for autonomy

[Jedburgh]

ISN Security Watch, 13 Aug 07: Unholy War in Kerbala

....Today, no one force - neither the Iranian-influenced clerics nor the Iraqi nationalist scholars - is in full control of Najaf and Kerbala. Instead, there is constant turmoil as different factions struggle for power. The Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr, the Badr militia of Ayatollah Muhammed Baqir al-Hakim, and the followers of Ayatollah Ali Sistani, regarded as Iraq's supreme Shia authority, all compete for influence.

Amid the anarchy, a new kind of Shia leader emerged which no one had anticipated, and which now represents a serious threat to the rule of law in the most important Shia religious centers: self-appointed clerics who combine the might of armed militias with an almost messianic sense of purpose.....

[Tom Odom]

This is a pretty good run down of the players but the following:

Amid the anarchy, a new kind of Shia leader emerged which no one had anticipated, and which now represents a serious threat to the rule of law in the most important Shia religious centers: self-appointed clerics who combine the might of armed militias with an almost messianic sense of purpose.....

is in a word #$%@&*&( stupid....

They have had for nearly 5 years the example of Muqtada As-Sadr to follow--who had modeled himself largely on Nasrallah of Hizballah in Lebanon for the past two and a half decades. So to say it is all a big surprise means they completey ignored As-Sadr and overlooked centuries of Shia schisms.

Best

Tom