1115.org

If Muqtada al-Sadr is to be believed, Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki just lost a little more political face, making his so-called government even more of a joke than it already was:

Iraq’s top Shiite religious leaders have told anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr not to disband his Mehdi Army, an al-Sadr spokesman said Monday amid fresh fighting in the militia’s Baghdad strongholds.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded Sunday that the cleric disband his militia, which waged two uprisings against U.S. troops in 2004, or see his supporters barred from public office.

But al-Sadr spokesman Salah al-Obeidi said al-Sadr has consulted with Iraq’s Shiite clerical leadership “and they refused that.” He did not provide details of the talks.

But I may have rushed to judgment here. Until we’ve heard from Dana Perino, John McCain and Joe Lieberman, how can we be sure whether this new development strengthens or weakens al-Maliki’s hand?

And just in case John McCain screws up again, and describes either al-Sadr or al-Maliki as a Sunni leader, let’s remember that he has every right to be confused. When two forces fight in Iraq, one of them is supposed to be Sunni.

For that matter, it behooves us to be forgiving and understanding towards Lieberman too. If he progresses from confusing Iran and Iraq to mixing up Sunni and Shi’a, let’s remember not only that being McCain’s handler has to be a stressful position but also that McCainitis may be contagious.