Question: why is sadr still alive?

<strong>Here he is, doing a prime propaganda job against the US

hey this perfect! allow the biggest rebel hero of the idiot rebellion to go on urging violence against the US soldiers. him that's perfect guys....is this 'restraint' really going to help in the long run? or is he just converting the unbelievers right now for his eventual martyrdom op?
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Iraq Insurgents Defy U.S., Taunt Bush Over Jail Abuse
Fri May 7, 2004 12:04 PM ET

By Suleiman al-Khalidi
KUFA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr defied U.S. troops closing in on his militia army, vowing in a Friday sermon to drive out an army he said was discredited by prisoner abuse.

The Red Cross, in a rare break with practice, disclosed it warned Washington months ago that U.S. troops beat and even killed Iraqis in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and that these were not exceptional cases.

Sporadic fighting in the holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala left perhaps 20 people dead by various accounts, a day after U.S. troops made their boldest move yet against the month-old insurgency by Sadr's Mehdi Army. But there was no sign of them rushing to make good on a pledge to capture or kill its leader.

American forces kept a low profile to allow Sadr to preach at his usual mosque.

"We won't allow you to control us. You will be forced out sooner or later," he said in front of thousands of chanting supporters in the heavily guarded mosque at Kufa, just outside Najaf, 170 km (110 miles) south of Baghdad.