Is the World Supposed to Take Iraqi Clerics Seriously?

On Friday, Sheik Sultan Al-Bahadli, the director of Muqtada al-Sadr's office in Basra, delivered his sermon at Basra's al-Hawi mosque, telling worshippers that $350 would be given to anyone who captured a British soldier and offered $150 for killing one. He also said, "Any Iraqi who takes a female soldier can keep her as a slave or gift to himself."

Supposedly, Iraq is populated with millions of educated, civilized people. People who have long been mis-treated, persecuted, and suffered through years of economic ruin as the result of economic sanctions. How is it that Iraqi people can listen to the rhetoric of Al-Bahadli without saying "Hold on a minute, you're out of your freaking mind". A religious cleric is advocating the taking of women as slaves? This is the face of Islam, the 'religion of peace'?

The world is now infested with Islamic militants hell bent on murdering innocent civilians. We have clerics funding terrorists, arming suicide bombers, and now they're advocating slavery of women. This begs the question, when will the millions of sane Muslims finally stand up and say "enough is enough!". When will these clerics begin to be viewed as lunatics and rightfully ostracized by the Arab world? When will the people of Iraq stand up to the militants, fight for peace, and help bring an end to the occupation?