On Mar 26, 10:41=EF=BF=BDpm, Jeffrey Turner <jtur...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> The surge started working when Muqtada al Sadr declared a ceasefire.
> Now that it looks like that ceasefire is crumbling, I suspect the surge
> will go with it. =EF=BF=BD
It is quite plausible, as per this CNN re****t, that Sadr is not still
calling the shots, but has been reduced to a figurehead:
---
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/27/basra.analysis/?iref=3Dmpstory=
view
"Al-Sadr is involved in a very complicated relation****p with the
Iranians," said CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware. "The
Iranians do provide funding and sup****t for his militia, yet at
the same time they're trying to rein him in and get him to adopt a
certain political agenda, which from time to time he resists."
Ware said Iran wants to use al-Sadr's populist base to advance its
agenda in Iraq. "However, they don't want to see him get too big
for his boots or to rise to a position where they can no longer
have sway over him."
Iran has weakened al-Sadr by encouraging dissension within his
Mehdi Army and backing hardliners -- known as the Special Groups
-- who break away and keep up the fight against the U.S.
occupation, Ware said.
"Iran's very good at putting pressure on you, forcing you to
split, and anything that squeezes out the side, Iran picks up and
turns into hardline factions," Ware said. "That's exactly what's
happened to Muqtada. He's had purge after purge after purge of
belligerent commanders, and they've all been swept up by Iran.
"And now the most lethal attacks on U.S. forces, the most
coordinated attacks on U.S. forces, the most daring attacks on
U.S. forces in the country are committed by Iranian-backed
breakaway elements of Muqtada's militia faction."
---
Note that Sadr has not been heard from; nor has he
declared an end to the cease-fire.
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