Sadr Surge

What was under reported in the news was al-Sadr's call to end armed struggle back in January, before the U.S. declared its surge. It was a ceasefire, one sided, that was ignored by the Iraqi government and the Americans. Now that the surge is on in earnest, well so is the surge in Iraqi resistance.

But the surge itself is based on a "pox on both houses" approach. The general idea is that there are Sunni extremists and Shia extremists (including Al-Sadr). So the U.S. military is pressing the Iraqi government to fight both. And U.S. military operations are explicitly directed against both Sunni inusurgents and Shia radicals.

The problem with this approach is that many Iraqi Shia (including many in the government) believe one side in Iraq is right and the other side is wrong. The Iraqis on the street who share this view are the people most vulnerable to Al-Sadr's incendiary message.

Al-Sadr Calls for Resistance Against the US

Thousands of Shiites heed al-Sadr call, march to Najaf

Iraqi Shiites burn US flags on regime fall anniversary
New Straits Times - 6 hours ago
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiites burned and trampled on US flags in the holy city of Najaf on Monday at an anti-American rally called by firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein.

See:

Surge In Iraq

Vietnamization of Iraq

Calling A Spade A Shovel

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