Muqtada al-Sadr Plays Waldo, Allawi Goes Global- Uncle Sam, The Ayatollahs and Gulf ED

Iraq: so, what else is new?:
Muqtada Al-Sadr has gone AWOL. While a U.S. military spokesman confirms that the mysterious Shi'a leader has gone to Iran, a Sadrista spokesman has denied that assertion, claiming that Muqtada is at his home in Najaf. An Iraqi official now claims that Muqtada is on a visit to Iran, just a normal visit. (This is increasingly resembling the Anna Nicole Smith paternity confusion). Some in the Arab, as well as American, media speculate that he is just laying low, waiting for the 'surge' to run its course. Of course, there is always an outside chance that we could all be pleasantly surprised and the much-maligned surge may succeed. But then again, that all depends on the ultimate goals of the surge, just how modest or how audacious they are.

Meanwhile, London based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports that former Interim Prime Minister Ayyad Allawi has renewed his proposed plan, yes again, to stabilize Iraq. Not surprisingly, the plan calls, again, for a 'unity government' and declaring martial law for two years. That would mean suspending the constitution. The Shi'a alliance quickly rejected the plan as extra-constitutional, which it is. So far, the Kurds have not dignified it with a response. In fact the proposal is way extra-constitutional, a retro plan, like totally Ba'athist, and the ruling coalition noted that it would require arbitrarily undoing the electoral process, i.e, defying the will of the electorate that risked life and limb to vote (remember the purple-stained fingers raised proudly in Baghdad and at the Capitol in Washington?). An Allawi ally stated that Allawi presented his proposal to the United States government, the Arab League, the OIC, and the Gulf Coopertaion Council- just to make sure that it will be rejected by the ruling coalition and probably by most Iraqis. It is not clear if Allawi consulted with his elected government before approaching unelected foreign governments and potentates with his plan- but then, hey, this is the Arab Middle East.

Uncle Sam, The Mullahs, and the Salafis:
The US will send a third aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf, an unprecedented move that will literally choke the narrow waterway. Many in the Middle East interpret this as a sure sign that the Bush administration plans to strike at Iran. This, of course may be part of the fog and smoke of war. Some claim the U.S. is already involved in operations against Iran, that it is arming and financing groups opposed to the clerical regime in Tehran as a retaliation for Iranian involvement in Iraq. Still, outside the Arab World, there seems to be a shift toward a concensus opinion that there will be no war. Within the Arab region, the consencus is for war, with some in the media in the Persian Gulf states doing some saber rattling, rattling the American saber of course, since their own sabers are miniscule on account of intestinal and moral ED. The vulnerable Gulf states worry about being caught in the violence of a new war, although, oddly enough, the most vociferous proponents of a U.S. attack on Iran are prominent Salafi Jihadist types in some of the GCC countries that border Iraq. These are the soul mates of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Perhaps this is to avenge the Iranian support of the U.S invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 that led to deposing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, or perhaps it is a case of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend, for now'.

You Figure This One Out:
An Iraqi newspaper reports that the Israeli government has advised all Israeli citizens in Iraq to leave that country and not return.
Cheers
Mohammed