Radical Shiite cleric Muqtadr al-Sadr has ordered a 6 month suspension of hostilities for his Mahdi Army Militia. He has ordered the militia to not attack US or Government forces and they will use this time to re-organize.
The Mahdi Army has broken into factions over the last couple of years, with certain factions bombing civilians and this has given al-Sadr a black eye. Most recently, a faction of the Mahdi Army was involved in an attack on a Shiite mosque in the holy city of Karbala.
The streets of Sadr City were extremely quiet today as the cessation of hostilities has taken effect. The question is, what role did the "surge" play in these developments. The US Military has been hitting the Mahdi Army pretty hard these past couple of months, and a suspicious person might say that this "rehabilitation" is just an excuse for al-Sadr's forces to get some breathing room and lick their wounds. We shall see, but in the meantime, this gives our forces in Sadr City a little break from the constant fighting.
