Al Capone Needs Elliot Ness

Recently Wretchard discussed the outbreak of extreme Puritanism in the South of Iraq. We have seen it earlier. In the past year or so, Christian sellers of alcohol in southern Iraq have been harassed and driven out of business. Sometimes even killed for the evil that they have been tempting good Muslims with. Now, it turns out that the people who were doing the clean-up are now cleaning up. FayRouz has the scoop.

Could it be that these puritanical enforcers of the Faith were corrupted by exposure to the Crusader vendors of alcohol? More likely, I think, that Al Sadr and his buddies saw a business opportunity. If Saddam planned to be Stalin, maybe Al Sadr plans to be Al Capone. How cynical to start by helping Elliot Ness in order to eliminate the competition.

Remember, every prohibition has an equal and opposite impact. A price support system for alcohol is making money for the Sadrists.

Note: Wretchard's post is special. It has 618 comments already. Many interesting ideas.

7/18/2005 1:07 PM