I never believed for a second that the nutcase Al Sadr would actually give up. Egos simply don't get erased overnight. After looking at the pictures in the article you provided I was really shocked by the size of that mosque. For some reason I had the impression of a small building but that damned thing could hold a division of soldiers.

How in the world are the Iraqis or US Army going to flush out the militants and civilians inside that thing without simply leveling it? Man, talk about a Mexican standoff. I see Waco written all over this situation. No assault I can envision, unless they used some kind of gas like the Russians did in that theater hostage crisis (and we know how that ended), seems to end with the bad guys killed or taken prisoner, the civilian casualties light, and damage to the mosque acceptible.

Maybe we need Tom Clancy to pen this scenario.