There is something very strange about the attack on Basra by the Maliki govt, seeing that it followed Chaney’s visit to Iraq, who, I am guessing of course, was told of the coming attack before he arrived in Iraq and approved of it while in Iraq. Sadr was apparently taken by surprise, hence his reaction, which was also obviously preplanned and more or less automatic. Nevertheless, the fighting made it obvious that Maliki’s forces are weak and could be held in check by Sadr, perhaps even destroying the Maliki govt. Paradoxically, a Sadr victory is not in the interest of Iran, which does not want war, hence the deal that was brokered by Quds. The next “happening” depends how the U.S. reacts to the deal. It can mean a continuation of the cease fire, on the other hand, ....

If its true that Sadr made a deal with the Maliki government with al Quds acting as the intermediary, then it just affirms the old Middle Eastern adage----“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Though Sadr and his Mahdi Army are Shia and the Irani al Quds operatives are Shia they are natural enemies by virtue of one being Arab and the other Persian and even their Shia beliefs are somewhat different.  However, they do have a common enemy-----the good old US of A!

It’s nice to be able to bring people together.

Pretty amazing, and overwhelmingly impressive from my own viewpoint.

How ironic (though not a surprise) that such a ‘deal’ would be brokered by the Iranians. (and the Quds force no less).

And we say that the Iraqis are NOT taking responsibility for their own survival? I guess that would depend on which “IRAQIS” we’re talking about. The US controlled puppet government as represented by Maliki, or the people that make up the remaining population of Iraq, who have been rendered helpless by the military might of the US in the invasion and occupation of their nation.

How would anyone in their right mind NOT expect them to seek the help of their neighbors? If a stranger broke into my house, and proceeded to steal my stuff, and kill my family and destroy my home in the process, I’d get help from…MY NEIGHBORS. (at least when all other ‘established by protocol’ help failed to arrive, such as the UN).

The problem of course, (noted in this piece) is the continuing assault (on Sadr City and other parts of Baghdad) by the US military with its mighty air power and bombs. That has been the ‘problem’ from the beginning; The destruction of the original Iraqi Military, which left the nation totally vulnerable to the military might of the US.

And, it could be the deal breaker, as the article notes. One cannot have a ‘cease fire’ if the mightier forces refuse to ‘cease’. We need only look at the 60-year old assault of Israel on Palestine to figure that out.

So yeah, Sadr can order the citizens of Iraq, (the people) to stop fighting, but if the US-Maliki forces continue, the expectation is that the majority of real Iraqis aren’t gonna just stand by and continue to be wiped out.