I’m waiting to see whether or not the supposedly peaceful Ayatollah Sistani says anything about Abdel Aziz Hakim’s increasingly threatening comments. Hakim, of course, is the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Here is Hakim yesterday, threatening to unleash the dogs of war under the control of the Ministry of the Interior and the army, including (obviously) units made up largely of Badr Brigade, Iranian-trained fanatics.

We’re laying the responsibility for the blood of innocents on the multinational forces and the political powers that declared publicly their support fo terrorism. Our people will not be patient for much longer with these dirty sectarian crimes.

Once again, Hakim blamed the United States for “pressure” to hold back. In that case, he is talking about holding back from sectarian crimes and ethnic cleansing of his own. But soon.