Moqtada would only “retreat” if the situation in Iraq were looking negative for him.
Or at the behest of his Iranian handlers.
As for…
Sadr needed to burnish the theological and intellectual credentials he sorely lacks until he is ready to mount a challenge for the moral paramountcy of Shiism in Iraq.
It has long been noted that Moqtada (unlike his well known father who was assassinated by Saddam) absolutely lacked the credentials and education to legitimately hold the position of religious leader.
So attempting to use this period to “burnish” those credentials sounds legitimate.
Burnishing his “intellectual” credentials might be a more difficult slog, since Moqtada has never been known as the sharpest tack in the box.
We will, undoubtedly, be hearing more from him in the future, as the Iranians determine how best to use him for their (post American)Iraq positioning.
I believe it was a significant tactical mistake to let Sadr remain alive…
I agree with this. At one point, Moqtada was under indictment in Iraq for his role in assassination of a rival shi’ite cleric. And because of all the dillydallying and second guessing*, he was not pursued to the finish.
(*reminiscent of the Clinton administration’s failure to “get” Osama bin Laden)
