It is a remarkable change from past years, when the militia, led by the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, controlled a broad swath of Baghdad, including local governments and police forces. But its use of extortion and violence began alienating much of the Shiite population to the point that many quietly supported American military sweeps against the group.
Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki struck another blow this spring, when he led a military operation against it in Baghdad and in several southern cities.
The shift, if it holds, would solidify a transfer of power from al-Sadr, who had lorded his once broad political support over the Government, to al-Maliki, who is increasingly seen as a true national leader.
It is part of a general decline in violence that is resonating in American as well as Iraqi politics — John McCain argues that the advances in Iraq would have been impossible without the increase in American troops known as the surge.
http://newageislam.com/iraq%E2%80%99s-shiite-militia-sees-its-power-waning/islam-and-the-west/d/332
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11:29 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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