Sadr and his Sadrists movement are in full retreat politically and militarily in Iraq as Maliki further strengthens the Iraqi government’s control of that country: Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s recent decisions show he is pursuing a twin strategy — trying to regain control of his militia and avoiding confrontation with the government. … But […]

As I noted yesterday Prime Minister Maliki has moved against militant forces, who likely are part of the Iranian arms smuggling efforts into Iraq, in the Maysan Province capitol City of Amarah: Amarah is also one of the last bastions of the Mahdi Militia and one of the only major cities run by the Sadtist […]

Wow – even I did not predict Sadr’s debacle over the last few months was this bad.  I knew he was losing support among the Iraqis (see my previous post here).  But i suspected his recent surrendering to Maliki was an effort to stop the hemorrhaging and buy time to rebuild some credibility.  Apparently it is too […]

A couple of weeks ago Iraqi (Arab) Shiite-cleric-in-hiding (in Iraq with his Persian Shiite hosts) Moqtada al-Sadr called for weekly protests against the American “occupation”.  This was Sadr’s last gasp as Sadr City fell under Iraqi control and the Mahdi Militia were beaten back in their main stronghold in Sadr City.  This was only a […]