Glad to see that they are targeting the Mahdi Army and I'm glad to see that they don't intend to let them join with the Iraqi army, maybe they could provide security for the journalists:
(via)Coalition forces have detained about 700 members of the Mahdi Army, the largest Shiite militia in Baghdad, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday.The militia, which is loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and has clashed with U.S. troops in the past, has mostly avoided a direct confrontation with American and Iraqi government forces, Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview with USA TODAY.
Some of the militia's top leaders have left the capital, and Iraqi government officials are negotiating with al-Sadr's political organization in an effort to disband the militia, Petraeus said.
"I think in part one reason that al-Sadr's militia has been lying low … is due to some of the discussions being held," Petraeus said in a telephone interview from Iraq. "It's also in part due to some of the leaders leaving Baghdad" and others being arrested, he said.
U.S. and allied troops have arrested top-ranking and rank-and-file militia members during operations over the past several months, Petraeus said. Coalition forces are engaged in a major plan, devised in part by Petraeus, to limit sectarian and insurgent violence in Baghdad.
[...]
"Over time the Mahdi Army, as with all the militias, has to be disarmed, demobilized and reintegrated into society in some fashion," Petraeus said. The militia will not be allowed to join the Iraqi security forces as an organization, he said.
Let's hope they can continue and the anti-war protesters don't get their way.
Speaking of anti-war protesters, here's a funny quote from one of the Code Pink chicks who are protesting Pelosi's home:
By Monday afternoon, however, Ms. Blome was speaking for exactly three people: herself and two other tired-looking protesters. One of those was Leslie Angeline, 50, who said she had slept till about 4 a.m. outside Ms. Pelosi's three-story red-brick home.
"It was O.K.," Ms. Angeline said, "till the sprinkler system went off."
