...it's somebody hackin' yer damn website.

(Via Juan Cole.)

Although it seems intriguing that somebody claiming to be named "Billy" is quite so fluent in written Arabic, don'tcha think? Somehow I am skeptical of the authenticity of this name.

Muqtada al Sadr can only put a hundred thousand or more armed, irate Shiite folks into the streets on about 20 minutes notice, so it's real smart to go pissing him off with hijinks on his website.

Recently, in the comments of this post reader and blogger Mark from Ireland made the suggestion that the term "civil war" isn't the right one to describe what's happening in Iraq right now. In response, I offer this devastating article by Nir Rosen. It is probably one of the top five articles I've read about Iraq since the war started, and I cannot encourage you enough to read it. And reread it. It's long, detailed, and has the context and background so missing in so much "reporting" about Iraq. I will be blogging more on this piece and the questions raised here, but that will have to wait until I'm back in DC. I'll say this: I'm glad my nephew is too young to read, because I don't know what I'd tell him about what he would find in this article.

Steve Gilliard, this is for you:

“In reality, my father's position on this topic isn't deficient... Not only my father but Sharia also prohibits such activities which keep the followers too occupied for worshiping, keep people from remembering [to worship]. Habeebi, the West created things that keep us from completing ourselves (perfection). What did they make us do? Run after a ball, habeebi… What does that mean? A man, this large and this tall, Muslim- running after a ball? Habeebi, this ‘goal’ as it is called… if you want to run, run for a noble goal. Follow the noble goals which complete you and not the ones that demean you. Run after a goal, put it in your mind and everyone follows their own path to the goal to satisfy God. That is one thing. The second thing, which is more important, we find that the West and especially Israel, habeebi the Jews, did you see them playing soccer? Did you see them playing games like Arabs play? They let us keep busy with soccer and other things and they've left it. Have you heard that the Israeli team, curse them, got the World Cup? Or even America? Only other games...