Bobzhuman

Bob's Human
One down, one to go....Mike Walker, USMC, Col. (retired)

Marines,

Although there is no joy in my heart over the death of
Saddam Hussein, I find that justice has been served
and if you too had served two tours in Iraq and seen
first hand the horrors wrought upon the Iraqi people
by his evil deeds then you would probably feel the
same.

Saddam well deserves to stand amidst the ranks of the
hundreds of thousands of his victims, Iraqis from all
walks of life who died, often horrifically, as a
direct result of his actions.

But the job is not finished. There is another who now
needs to feel the full weight of justice in Iraq:
Muqtada Sadr.

In the summer of 2003, just weeks after the end of the
conventional war, the Marines wished to move against
Muqtada Sadr for directing the assassination of an
Iraqi who had opposed him. He eluded justice at that
time which is squarely our fault.

Later, in August 2004, Muqtada Sadr seized the Shrine
of Ali in an Najaf, the world's holiest site for Shi'a
Muslims. We was surrounded by Coalition Forces (US
Marines and Iraqi army units). His militia was
soundly defeated and ultimately surrendered en masse.

During the fighting, Muqtada Sadr used the Shrine for
his headquarters. He and his Mahdi army "troops"
desecrated the Shrine to a degree unequaled in all the
centuries of its existence. There were literally
dozens and dozens of bottles of alcohol littered about
various parts of the holy Shrine, the after effects of
this thugs getting some "liquid courage" before they
could face the Marines and Iraqi army units.

Sadr also established torture chambers and conducted
summary executions of his "enemies" while occupying
the Shrine. His sins before man and God during that
period in 2004 is to the everlasting shame of Muqtada
Sadr and his Mahdi army. Muqtada Sadr is often
identified as a Muslim cleric? In a pig's eye. Yet
PM Ayad Allawi allowed him to walk away. Shame on
him.

Muqtada Sadr must be brought to justice if there is to
be peace in Iraq. Now is the time for this megalomaniac to face the
court and if need be to follow in Saddam's footsteps,
right up the gallows's stairs and into the hangman's
noose. God willing.

Semper Fi,

Mike

P.S. While abusing alcohol in a Mosque seemed to be
the preferred method of getting high in battle for the
Mahdi army, the only similar drug use I ever
encountered in Iraq was that done by the Sunni guys in
the al Anbar fighting the Marines, a fairly common
occurrence. I guess if Oliver Stone is going to make
a movie about drug-crazed soldiers in Iraq he will
have to cast the actors as the enemy because the US
soldiers and Marines serving in Iraq make a lie of his
"Platoon" image of American fighting men and women at
war.