After a series of deadly bombings in Iraq, the anti-American Shiite cleric, Mugtada al-Sadr has declared that if the central government does not protect the Shiites, they will protect themselves.
This raises the question that Sadr is considering reactivating the Shiite militia called the Mahdi Army.
The ugly head of Civil War and sectarian violence is once again a possibility.
Hopefully, Sadr was only posturing to enhance his political position with his followers aligning themselves with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to keep any Sunni power block with the secular leader, Ayad Allawi, who won a slim majority of votes in the recent election, from forming a government.
The situation in Iraq with what was thought to be a stable government is on the verge of disintegrating.
