Tom Brosz said:

>I don't know why the Sunnis and Sadr made their play this soon--it
>would have worked better for them in June--but the militias needed
>putting down, and this way we didn't have to do it preemptively.

I also find this confusing. They should be doing this just before the new Iraqi government takes over so they could discredit it. By attacking now, they're setting themselves up for destruction with very little possibility for a pay off. Some of the Iraqi bloggers and Debka (who I don't trust) have speculated that the Iranians are behind this. Also this trick of causing a provocation in the hope of drawing an American rescue team into an ambush is something new. The Iranians seem to be very concerned about having their nuclear program derailed by UN intervention. Pehaps the Iranians intend this new activity in Iraq as a distraction? Such a distraction would only buy them about a month at the most. Are they that close to developing their own nuclear weapon's capability?

Gary