Thread: Al-Sadr orders end of violence against Americans in Iraq

Muqtada Al-Sadr's politics is at the heart of Iraqi's success because he's enormously influential in Southern Shia-dominated parts of Iraq. Today he ordered his followers to stop bombing and targeting rockets at US bases remaining in Iraq. With 45,000 US soldiers and more than that in contractors, many of which operate from those same bases, this will save lives.

Iraqi Cleric Orders Stop To Attack On U.S. Troops : NPR

Good news for our troops. What is al-Sadr's motive though? Americans out; Iranians in?

I'm not expert though I can tell you he's been consistent with American's out for most of the past eight years. He's also called for Sunni and Shi'a unity and preventing the Kurds from separating off. Iran, which already has a lot of influence in Southern Iraq would play a role for sure--a good thing if we're talking about trading fruits (I'm sure I ate a lot of food from Iran), a bad thing if it's rockets.