Condi to Al-Sadr - Drop Dead

In a move worthy of a late night comedian, rather than the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice decided to stop with the diplomacy nonsense - you know, her job? - and tell one of the most dangerous people in Iraq to kiss her ass.

BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Rice, in the Iraqi capital to tout security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying. ...

"I know he's sitting in Iran," Rice said dismissively, when asked about al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him," Rice said. "I guess that's the message; his followers can go too their deaths and he's in Iran."

(Kind of like Bush, Cheney et al back in Washington, eh?)

Why is this a bad move? Because, like she said, he's safe in Iran and able to kick his minions into action, and therefore has nothing to lose by avenging this insult. All he would need is an excuse, and she practically gave it to him. How dumb can you get?

Maybe she just doesn't understand the full situation? As this article in the New York Times shows, she may have no idea who she's dealing with.

Ms. Rice said that she was not sure how to interpret a statement on Saturday by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army fighters have been battling Iraqi and American forces in Sadr City and in the south, that he would declare “war until liberation” if the fighting against his militia forces continued.

“I don’t know whether to take him seriously or not,” Ms. Rice said.

Um, this guy leads a massive, dedicated zealot militia, and has been responsible for massive uprisings against our troops and the Iraqi government. How could we NOT take him seriously? Even if he's just yanking our chains, at present, he can do a whole lot worse than yank. We've seen it happen.

I've said before that Condoleezza Rice should not have been selected to be our Secretary of State, as the woman is, quite frankly, in moo-moo land. She's intelligent and knowledgeable, yes, but she's also an empty vessel for George W. Bush, and an echo chamber for his increasingly meaningless drivel.

Nothing has happened since I wrote either of those pieces to change my mind, and this latest incident just confirms it.

h/t to VetVoice by way of Crooks & Liars