U.S. Troops to be under Al Sadr?

That would be too bizarre to believe. But it wouldn't be any weirder than Chalabi, after all.

"As parties haggle over candidate lists, radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fights for a top spot.

"Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite clergy's enfant terrible, is reportedly causing an uproar by insisting that some names be thrown off the unified Shiite list.

"He's also demanding top billing, above former Governing Council members Ibrahim Jafari and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, both former exiles. "Moqtada argues that he is better known and more popular than all of them," says Mr. Ghitta.

"The Shiite Political Council, headed by onetime Pentagon favorite Ahmed Chalabi, is aligning itself with Mr. Sadr."