This development appears to be another setback for al-Sadr's beleaguered forces. The Iraqi army defeated al-Sadr's militia in a conflict in Basra which started in late March, causing al-Sadr's militia to retreat to Baghdad. US and Iraqi forces have fought al-Sadr's militia in Baghdad over the past weeks.
AJ Strata:
So Maliki and the US have taken on and beaten the Mahdi Army which now agrees to disarm as Maliki directed. Will there be cheering in the streets of Sadr City on this finale? You bet there will be, along with a new sense of pride in the Iraqi government. The second biggest losers in all this were the doom&gloom liberal SurrenderMedia and Surrendercrats. The world just won’t produce another Vietnam for them. Their predictions were wrong - again. And their hopes of a US failure in Iraq were wrong - as they have always been. Wrong in a smelly, sick kind of way.
Related posts:
al-Sadr announces a surrender... tells followers not to fight the Iraqi army
NRP reports gains made by al-Maliki after defeating al-Sadr in Basra
al-Sadr blinks... calls off "massive rally" that had been planned
Report: al-Sadr's militia got hammered in Basra conflict
