Yup, This Will All Go Swimmingly

AP:

Iraq's prime minister has dropped his protection of an anti-American cleric's Shiite militia after U.S. intelligence convinced him the group was infiltrated by death squads, two officials said Sunday.

In a desperate bid to fend off an all-out American offensive, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr last Friday ordered the 30 lawmakers and six Cabinet ministers under his control to end their nearly two-month boycott of the government. They were back at their jobs Sunday.

Al-Sadr had already ordered his militia fighters not to display their weapons. They have not, however, ceded control of the formerly mixed neighborhoods they have captured, killing Sunnis or forcing them to abandon their homes and businesses.

I'm not so sure antagonizing a popular Shia leader is such a good idea, but what the hell do I know?¹  It's not like Baghdad is Shiite militia-infested or anything.

Auntie Beeb:

As the [surge] began, the US military said four soldiers and one marine had been killed in the restive western province of Anbar.  It took to 25 the number of US deaths in Iraq on Saturday - one of the worst days for US troops since the invasion.

In the latest violence in Baghdad seven people were killed in two blasts.
...
In the south of the country, a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb near the city of Basra.

The 3,200 extra troops sent to Baghdad are the advance guard of a 21,500-strong deployment ordered by President Bush earlier this month.  Saturday was the deadliest day for US troops in Iraq since January 2005, when 36 service members were killed.

Some say withdrawing will be dangerous for our troops and national security.  I say the opposite is true.

Newsweakling:

When President George W. Bush declared earlier this month that the only way to quell sectarian violence in Iraq was to send more than 20,000 additional American troops, he probably knew the move would be unpopular. Indeed, the latest NEWSWEEK poll finds that Bush’s call for a “surge” in troops is opposed by two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans and supported by only a quarter (26 percent). Almost half of all respondents (46 percent) want to see American troops pulled out “as soon as possible.”

Bush’s Iraq plan isn’t doing anything for his personal approval rating either; it’s again stuck at its lowest point in the history of the poll (31 percent). Meanwhile, the new Democratic-controlled Congress is getting relatively high marks. And 55 percent actually trust Congressional Dems on U.S. policy in Iraq, far more than the 32 percent who trust their commander in chief.

While Democrats and Republicans have roundly criticized Bush’s proposal, the president—who received his lowest ratings so far for his handling of the war (24 percent) and terrorism (41 percent)—told a group of U.S. television stations this week that "I believe it will work.” He is in the minority. Nearly half of all respondents to the NEWSWEEK poll (45 percent) say they “strongly oppose” the plan. Nine in 10 Democrats (92 percent), 70 percent of independents and close to a third (31 percent) of Republicans disapprove.

It appears I'm not alone.

ntodd

1 - I first noticed Sadr back in 2003 and have followed news about him sporadically (here, here, here, here and here), and have wondered just what his impact would be on all this.  I guess it's negative, but only because we're choosing sides in a fucking civil war.