Basra transition

[Rank amateur]

Here's a look inside Sadr City from the Washington Post. It seems as though Cav Guy was right on the mark.

Some people over at Abu Muqawama seem to think that Iran is squeezing Sadr.

and to make things confusing, a Washington Post columnist is reporting the exact opposite:

"Sadr wants to fight, but he also wants to talk. I'm told that he sent a verbal message through an Iraqi intermediary last month to Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq. The gist of the message was that the Mahdi Army in the Baghdad area was no longer under Sadr's control but Iran's. The United States apparently didn't answer this message, but at some point, through some channel, America will need to talk with Sadr and the forces he represents."