ZEYAD NOTES MORE SENIOR SHIITE CLERICS CRITICIZING SADR.

Read the whole thing. Cicada flags an interesting passage, and observes: “Sounds like the US are doing something remarkable. They’re successfully fighting a radical Islamic army in the religion’s holiest cities while gaining the respect and support of the resident clerics. If that’s not a blow to al-Qaeda I don’t know what is.”

I could be wrong, but it looks that way to me, too. Note that Sadr’s forces appear to have been driven out of Karbala.

Hey, wasn’t the press treating Sadr as the leader of a mass popular uprising not long ago?