What will another martyr do for the US campaign to win the "hearts and minds" of Iraqis? They want Sadr "dead or alive," and as reported in
The Guardian by George Wright, Sadr will fight to the death.
As a large force of US marines massed on the outskirts of the holy city of Najaf, where Mr Sadr has been holed up for the last week with hundreds of his Mahdi Army fighters, the Shia leader said: "I am ready to sacrifice (myself) and I call on the people not to allow my death to cause the collapse of the fight for freedom and an end to the occupation."
Though one might see the capture of a military leader as strategically important, Sadr is more than a military leader. Will the US bungle again and create a martyr to the cause of resistence to the US occupation? Would this not exacerbate the current situation?
One might also imagine that the massive slaughter of innocents in this recent fighting would do little to win over the Iraqi people.