Sadr and Maliki

If the interpretation of events that are discussed in Blog Simple's last post has legs, then the latest news from Iraq needs to be looked at even more carefully.

There are two main developments:

1. It's reported that the Iraqi army has taken over Basra, encountering some resistance from Sadr's militia, which soon melted away.
2. Sadr has issued a warning, that if attacks on, and arrests of his followers continue then, "Of course, you know this means war." I suggest you read Missing Links translation from the original Sadr statement.

If Porter's right, and Maliki and Sadr are in cahoots to avoid a joint US/Brit attack on Basra, this is a way to avoid it. Faked action and fake victory. It would also explain the Iranian support for the action, where both of their actors win, and the US has to sit back on the sidelines, with time running out on the Bush administration, perhaps. Expect more to follow soon, the situation is very fluid.