The New York Times has an interesting piece on the motivations of those who joined the al-Sadr’s ‘militia’:

“They are not an army,” said Yahya al-Obaidi, 33, a Sunni shop owner in the Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad, where Mahdi fighters staged an attack on Tuesday. “They’re just a bunch of disorganized men.” That opinion is echoed by many middle class residents of Sadr City, including Mr. Hussein’s own family, who accuse Mr. Sadr of taking advantage of the residents’ rage at their condition, and say his followers are nothing more than a band of vigilante teams whose primary occupation is stealing from passers-by. “They have no goals, no program, no anything,” said Thaier al-Sudani, a Sadr City resident who works at home as a translator for Baghdad University.”

And, of course, they are ripe for exploitation.

If you read the full story, take a look at the photograph of young Ayam Muhammad that comes with it. It’s a tragic illustration of the willingness of some people to subject themselves to totalitarian control.