This is not crushing a rogue cleric. This is more like a Shi'a civil war.
Sadr, by even conservative estimates has about 1/3rd of the Iraqi Parliament answering to him. Maliki, on the other hand, is a wet noodle. An intentionally weak figure that the Shi'a put up exactly because they wanted the militia leaders and clerics having the stronger hand.
Sadr is a mad dog, for sure, but this is not 'crushing a rogue element', this is effectively a civil war. The media has once again failed the US by not having a clue about whats going on there.
Yeti