Champions of the poor or sectarian thugs? A crisis over a U.S.-backed raid on an Iraqi mosque that cost at least 16 lives has again thrust attention on a Shi’ite militia led by fiery young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. His Mehdi Army fighters were guarding the Baghdad mosque complex at the time of Sunday’s assault and shot at Iraqi troops as they approached, witnesses in the neighborhood said. “The Iraqi forces tried to enter the mosque and the Mehdi army fired at them. Full Story