It was pleasantly surprising to read this article from the AP yesterday. It turns out that we can almost certainly say that Muqtada al-Sadr is responsible (at least in part) for the deaths in Iraq. Maliki pretty much said, “your on your own” — which is exactly what needed to be done. Supporting terrorist sponsors with the hope that they will “contribute” to the peace process is pretty laughable… so I’m glad Maliki finally woke up to reality.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070122/
ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070121184864
“Al-Maliki realized he couldn’t keep defending the Mahdi Army because of the information and evidence that the armed group was taking part in the killings, displacing people and violating the state’s sovereignty,” said one official. Both he and a second government official who confirmed the account refused to be identified by name because the information was confidential. Both officials are intimately aware of the prime minister’s thinking.
“The Americans don’t act on rumors but on accurate intelligence. There are many intelligence agencies acting on the ground, and they know what’s going on,” said the second official, confirming the Americans had given al-Maliki overwhelming evidence about the Mahdi Army’s deep involvement in the sectarian slaughter.