Day Tripper

Well well well! Guess who came out of his Persian digs in that especial compound in Preacher Heights near Tehran?

"Got a good reason -- for taking the easy way out"

It's magical mysterious Mookie al Sadr. Absent commander of the Mahdi Army (also known as JAM or Special Groups) in Iraq - the self exiled wanna be Ayatollah hit Ankara to boost his rep in foreign policy.

Turkey's Anatolia news agency cited unnamed diplomatic sources as saying that al-Sadr's visit was aimed at "holding consultations on the political process in Iraq".


Deliberate Coalition and Iraqi military operations, and Iraqi political maneuvers, have severed the political, military, and social strands of the Sadr Movement, which no longer co-exist in the same entity and likely will not recombine in 2009.

"After a series of additional political and military setbacks, it had become
evident that Sadr had lost his ability to use the militia to strengthen his
political position. Accordingly, Sadr sought to strengthen his control over the
movement by enhancing his religious credentials.

"In late 2007, Sadr announced that he would be pursuing religious studies in Iran with the hope of becoming an ayatollah."


For a while there - Mookie was just like Mahdi!

Both disappeared and promised to return one day

Mookie's day trip to Turkey talking shop with real state crafters is significant.

Pic "Mookie swishes his Count Dracula Cape - unintentionally showing off his overt girthiness on his Turkish Trip"