al-Sadr, where are you?

Well, I attended a lecture on the Middle East, speaking Professor Robert Wren.

I came away convinced by the things he said and by my own deliberative processes, that Iraq needs a strong leader.  The country is a hodgepodge of diverse cultural elements, for too many years at each other's throats.  The central government in there now is practically non-functional in such ways as supplying electricity and clean water; keeping the streets clean.

I think England would admit it simply pieced elements like in a jigsaw together to form a nation; but a nation at odds with itself.

So, al-Sadr, where are you?