Al Sadr flies the coop
Apparently going to hole up in Tehran for a while.
The article is a bit in error. Sadr is "political" only after he's had his ass kicked, or if he thinks it's going to be. He reverts to violence as soon as he thinks he can get away with it. Not taking him out after his first uprising was one of the biggest mistakes we made.
Now he has to wait. Probably hoping for a Democratic president in 2008.
In December and January, Iraq and the coalition detained over 600 Mahdi militia members, including 16 leaders.