We're so used to Islamic clerics talking this way that we no longer take any notice. But remember: this is a religious leader. He has devoted his life to study of the Qur'an. How has he missed all of its peace and nonviolence? From [1] AP:

NAJAF, Iraq - A radical cleric whose loyalists battled U.S. troops for a fifth straight day vowed Monday to fight to the death, and a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb northeast of the capital, killing six people and wounding the deputy governor who was the intended target, officials said.

Explosions and gunfire were heard throughout the holy Shiite city of Najaf and U.S. helicopters hovered overhead as U.S. troops tried to drive Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen from a vast cemetery they have repeatedly used as a base. A U.S. tank rolled within 400 yards of Najaf's holiest site, the Imam Ali Shrine, also held by militiamen....

Al-Sadr vowed to keep up the battle.

"I will continue fighting," al-Sadr told reporters. "I will remain in Najaf city until the last drop of my blood has been spilled."