al-Sadr Tells Iraqis To Turn On US Troops

This is good news for the mission in Iraq, and a bad move for al-Sadr:

BAGHDAD – The renegade cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi forces to stop cooperating with the United States and told his guerrilla fighters to concentrate their attacks on American troops rather than Iraqis, according to a statement issued Sunday.
The statement, stamped with al-Sadr’s official seal, was distributed in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Sunday — a day before a large demonstration there, called for by al-Sadr, to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.
“You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don’t walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy,” the statement said. Its authenticity could not be verified.
In the statement, al-Sadr — who commands an enormous following among Iraq’s majority Shiites and has close allies in the Shiite-dominated government — also encouraged his followers to attack only American forces, not fellow Iraqis.

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Tough words for a guy currently hiding out under the protection of the mad mullahs of Iran. It’s a desperation move, though, really. Sadr’s influence in Iraq has since his pre-surge boogie over to Iran, and his “army” is crumbling. This message is undoubtedly a bid to unite his people once again by identifying a common enemy: Americans. That might work, but I don’t see it happening while he’s still hiding under Iran’s skirts.
Sadr’s also calling on all Iraqis to turn on our troops, but I don’t see that happening either. Sadr barely has the clout to keep his own people united. That he thinks he has enough pull to turn all Iraqis against us is laughable.
The dude is marginalized. And who did that? We did it by making him beat-feet out of Iraq with a surge of troops.
That’s progress, baby. Progress.