On the Sadrist cease-fire

This is another crucial political element in Iraq which is often glossed over in all the "surge-to-victory" bullshit. The Sadrist militias have been observing a unilateral cease-fire for the last six months, for their own political reasons largely independent of the US surge (having more to do with intra-Shiite rivalry). They have purged their ranks of elements which defied their control, and whose indiscriminate uses of force were hurting the Sadr movement politically. But they haven't gone away, and they haven't laid down their arms, and they are ready to fight again.