Justus For All

Reuters

A U.S. military general said on Wednesday that radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has left Iraq and is in Iran, accused by Washington of inflaming sectarian tensions in its neighbour.The cleric’s aides denied earlier reports Sadr had fled to avoid a crackdown on militants aimed at halting suicide bomb attacks and death squad killings in Baghdad.

Asked about the conflicting reports over the whereabouts of Sadr, an anti-American cleric whose Mehdi Army militia has been blamed for widespread sectarian killings, U.S. military spokesman Major-General William Caldwell said:

“All indications are in fact that he is in Iran and he left last month.” He said U.S. forces were “tracking Moqtada al-Sadr very closely”.

Earlier four of Sadr’s aides rejected suggestions by unidentified U.S. officials in Washington that the cleric had left to escape the crackdown, saying he was still in Iraq and keeping a low profile in the holy Shi’ite city of Najaf.

The influential firebrand has led his Mehdi Army militia in two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004. He has been keeping a low profile as Iraqi and U.S. forces step up a Baghdad security operation regarded as the last chance to avert a slide into all-out civil war between majority Shi’ites and Sunni Arabs.

Whether he has fled to Iran or is merely lying low in Najaf, it seems like a pretty good step, and seems to indicate that there are at least some positive benefits from the surge plan.

I remain concerned about the whole surge idea, as I think long, patient sustained work of rebuilding Iraqi civil society is what is needed, not a short quick effort.  However, if the short quick effort properly coincides with Iraqi forces being ready to maintain order, it may still be successful.