At one time there was a murder warrant out for the arrest of Moqtada al-Sadr, on the charge of killing an ayatollah in 2003. U.S. Army Gen. Ricardo Sanchez later publicly vowed that coalition troops in Iraq would "kill or capture" Sadr, and not rest until they had destroyed his militia.

　　Sadr, a poor public speaker, was only 32 years old. After fighting to a standstill in two engagements with the Americans, Sadr was forced to stand down and his militiamen began obediently turning in their weapons. Today his militia is back, and bigger than ever: He is now estimated to have 15,000 armed followers, three times as many as when he fought U.S. forces in 2004.

　　The American military no longer talks about killing or capturing Sadr; in fact, they're careful to not even point a finger of blame at him. Why not? In part because Iraq has become an unstable democracy, and Sadr has massive support in the streets. He has also learned the art of crafting different messages for different audiences.

　　萨德尔进攻了

　　曾经一度有一个逮捕穆克塔达·埃尔-萨德尔的谋杀通缉令，指控他在2003年杀死了一名阿亚图拉。此后美国陆军上将里卡多·桑切斯公开发誓在伊拉克的联军将“杀了或逮捕”萨德尔，并且只要他的武装组织不被摧毁，就不会停止行动。

　　萨德尔年仅32岁，不善言辞。在和美军的两次交战中无所建树后被迫退出。他的武装人员也顺从地缴了枪。如今，他的武装组织回来了，而且比以前更强大。估计现在他有15,000名武装追随者，是他在2004年和美军作战时的3倍。

　　美军现在不再谈论杀了或者逮捕萨德尔了。事实上他们连指责他都不敢。为什么不敢？部分原因是伊拉克已经变成了一个不稳定的民主国家，而萨德尔在街头有着广泛的支持。他还学会了对不同的人说不同的话。