Well, there are also huge ramifications for the geopolitical situation in the Islamic world if a semi-stable Iraq emerges that would benefit Sistani greatly. People forget that Najaf is a much older more traditional center of Islamic religious authority in the Shia world than Qom. If Iraq stabilizes, and Najaf with its traditionally quietistic brand of Shiism can regain its pre-Saddam supremacy, that will undermine the religious authority of the Iranian regime.

Sistani is not someone we can wield as a weapon to end fighting in Iraq. We need to be looking at his power in more of a geostrategic sense.