I figured Iraq was headed for a simple, run of the mill three way civil war. Kurds vs. Shiites vs. Sunnis, that sort of good old-fashioned traditional internal bloodletting. Never in my wildest dreams, however, did I think a civil war would erupt among the stinkin' Shiites!

That certainly seems to be the direction things are headed, though. Earlier today supporters of that Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr--he's the fat one with the beard--tried to reopen an office of his in Najaf. But other Shiites who are opposed to him for some reason or another tried to block the move. There was shoving, words were exchanged, tempers flared, and four people died in the subsequent fighting.

As word of this spread among the Shiite community, violence erupted in a number other cities throughout the Shiite south.

It's nice to get some good news for a change.