Al Sadr Votes On Surge With His Feet
And he cast a ballot for “yes, it’s working.”
Feb. 13, 2007 — While members of the U.S. House of Representatives take turns weighing in on President Bush’s planned troop surge in Iraq, the focus in Iraq is not on the arrival of more U.S. troops, but the departure of one of the country’s most powerful men, Moqtada al Sadr and members of his army.
According to senior military officials, al Sadr left Baghdad two to three weeks ago and fled to Tehran, Iran, where he has family.
Al Sadr commands the Mahdi army, one of the most formidable insurgent militias in Iraq, and his move coincides with the announced U.S. troop surge in Baghdad.
Sources believe al Sadr is worried about an increase of 20,000 U.S. troops in the Iraqi capital. One official told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, “He is scared he will get a JDAM [bomb] dropped on his house.”
Sources say some of the Mahdi army leadership went with al Sadr.
Sadr’s not gone for good though, of course, but with his departure perhaps our troops and the Iraqi security forces will have some breathing room to be able to focus in training more Iraqi forces, rebuilding more infrastructure and securing more areas within Baghdad.
Which was exactly what the surge was supposed to accomplish in the first place.
Meanwhile, morons in Congress are still grandstanding their opposition to the surge.
