Despite Sadr's order to stand down and Iran's agreement to back off (aided by our aggressive efforts against their network inside Iraq and extending even into Iran), some Shia thugs still shoot:
Four members of an Iranian-backed Shiite cell confessed to bombing a public market in central Baghdad, a U.S. spokesman said Saturday. He also blamed Shiites for recent attacks on U.S. bases, raising fears that a three-month truce by the most feared Shiite militia may be at an end.
Interesting enough:
The market is located in a Shiite area and has been targeted before by Sunni extremists. But Smith said the attackers wanted people to believe that the bomb, packed with ball-bearings to maximize casualties, was the work of al-Qaida in Iraq so that residents would turn to Shiite militias for protection.
The Shias don't seem to want Shia militia protection. Shias have grown tired of militia corruption and arrogance since August 2004 when we let Sadr live and his stature was perhaps near its peak. And the terrorists aren't able to kill Shias as they did in the recent past. So the Shia thugs find they must fake Sunni terrorist attacks. This does not indicate that the Shia militias command much popular support.
And those thugs still attacking using whatever Iranian help exists or left over from the days of full support just alienate Iraqi Shias. Led by 600 sheiks who oppose Iranian influence in Iraq:
More than 300,000 Shiite Muslims from southern Iraq have signed a petition condemning Iran for fomenting violence in Iraq, according to a group of sheiks leading the campaign.
A year ago, I worried that the threats from within the Shia community aided by Iranian support made our efforts against the death squads very touchy. The high profile campaign against al Qaeda was accompanied by a lower key campaign that has greatly weakened the Shia death squads and made the potential for them to undermine the government much less.
We may still see a Shia death squad uprising. Don't panic. We can defeat this threat, too, if it emerges. But I imagine we will be able to compel Sadr and other thugs to try their hand in political battles within a democratic Iraq rather than street battles.
That would represent quite the final victory over armed threats within Iraq.
