Iraqslogger: Mahdi Army purging its ranks?

The idea of Sadr skipping town because he’s afraid of being killed by Americans seems goofy to me, not only because he’s fought us twice before but because he knows we can’t afford to alienate the 65% of the country that’s Shiite by taking him out. He’s not afraid of the Sunnis, either; they’d have killed him long ago if they could get to him. So who’s he running from?

From his own guys, of course. Or rather, from those among them who have designs on his job or a piece of his action, or who are so hot for jihad that they might kill him and blame it on the Americans and/or Sunnis in order to starting a full-fledged Shiite uprising.

So he’s going to take advantage of the surge by dropping a dime on them.

At Friday prayers, mosques with a relationship to the Sadrist current have featured posted lists of individuals dismissed from the organization, eyewitnesses say.

Purged individuals were often those who had a record of “bad behavior,” said one source, that is, criminal or disloyal activity. Others are suspected to have been dropped from the rolls for want of favorable connections to the top tiers of the organization, sources said…

Slogger’s eyewitness report comes amid continuing crackdowns among Mahdi Army members around the country…

Purges in the organization in the middle of a crackdown may give support to the idea, suggested earlier, that the militia is using the security plan to give up unwelcome elements within its organization.

Exit question: Or am I totally wrong?

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