Last I heard, AlSadr is not in the country. Allowing civilians to leave Sadr City strikes me as a P.R. gesture. If all of the women and children actually left, the Iraqi government would not know what to do with them. They are only prepared to house and feed a couple thousand.

Hes no doubt in Iran,shocking.Of course the Iranians arent helping him out though.

Id say 'allowing' is a misrepresentation of the facts.Theyre being advised to go for their own safety.Without real numbers or actual humanitarian services available youre setting the table for an all out crisis.You imply that even tho the area is Shiite the Shiite dominated govt does not care for them? Just a PR stunt. Would you rather be homeless and hungry temporarily or dead forever?

I think it is Sadr who wants to choose politics not confrontation. Sadr would gain, politically, in an election and his goals for the country do not line up with the hopes and dreams of the administration and the current Iraq government.

At this point he probably does,he sees now the govt is serious about doing away with his militia.Its only natural that hes staying quiet and letting the IA/IP dispose of the criminal elements.However he has the power still at anytime to disband the militia and detatch himself completely from the military aspect of his movement.When that happens Ill concede hes looking for politics over violence.The Iraqi govt is already crafting legislation regarding banning political movement represented with militias so he may not even have a choice very soon.It will be politics or nothing.

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