Gen. Petraeus Meets With Al-Sadr Deputies

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,310697,00.html

WASHINGTON — Top U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus has met with representatives of Muqtada al-Sadr, once one of the top enemies fueling the insurgency against the elected Iraqi government, FOX News has confirmed.

The general has not met personally with al-Sadr, the military said, but the meetings come as the Pentagon is softening its approach to the firebrand Shiite leader who recently eased his hard-line stance with a ceasefire call last August.

Al-Sadr's aides have been quietly working with U.S. military officials to discuss security operations.

"Gen. Petraeus has not had any direct engagements or meetings with Muqtada al-Sadr. The command has indeed had direct engagements with some of his people that are within the organization. Mainly that has been via the Force Strategic Engagement Cell or FSEC as part of the overarching efforts to assist with reconciliation efforts," Petraeus spokesman Col. Steve Boylan said in a statement provided to FOX News.

First reported over the weekend in Newsweek, U.S. commanders said the pullback of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army has been a major factor in the decrease in Baghdad violence. They also said U.S. forces and Sadr's forces now have a common enemy: so-called "special groups" that once were aligned with Sadr but have splintered from the main organization.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Good! Now THAT's progress. nt

[DCKit]

3. Faux News??? I'll believe it when Al Sadr starts working constructively. to build Iraq. nt

[NNN0LHI]

7. Fox is using a Newsweek article to source this

http://www.newsweek.com/id/69572

It wasn't so long ago that U.S. commanders considered Moqtada al-Sadr to be the greatest threat to stability in Iraq. Now the Shiite firebrand's stock among the Americans may be rising. Since declaring a ceasefire for his Mahdi Army militia last August, Sadr has effectively disappeared from public life, designating five trusted aides to speak on his behalf. NEWSWEEK has learned that some of those deputies have been secretly meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to discuss cooperation on improving security, according to two sources who declined to be identified because of the subject's sensitivity. The general's spokesman, Col. Steven Boylan, qualified that assertion, explaining that while Petraeus has not met with Sadr, "the command has indeed had direct engagements with some of his people within the {Sadr} organization … to assist with reconciliation efforts." Boylan also says the military "applauded" Sadr's ceasefire.

[jtrockville]

2. Mahdi Army's 6-month ceasefire began at the end of August.

He said 6 months would be the maximum amount of time before they resume. That'll put the Mahdi Army back in play by the end of February at the latest.

Let's hope Patraeus is successful.

[SoCalDem]

4. I think they already have gone back into "action"

al Sadr gave them all a vacation ..it' sbeen too hot to fight anyway, so they are all rested and ready to rumble..

We have tried to kill al sadr and have demonized him relentlessly, so I doubt that he's just going to let bygones be bygones.. Georgie's still squawking about how "they tried ta kill mah daddy"..

al Sadr's shrewd and he's gonna play the game to win..say what he has to say, and he'll eventually come out the winner..he's young, and probably saw what a good gig, being the boss is, so he's gonna end up running the place..mark my words:(

[TwilightGardener]

5. How much are we paying al-Sadr to keep his army quiet? Let's follow

the money. We're paying everybody else.

[NNN0LHI]

6. My guess would be Mr. Sadr is sitting in a US prison already

With a pair of womens dirty underwear on his head and a chemical light up his anus.

That is how Bush does these things.

Don

http://www.newsweek.com/id/69572

It wasn't so long ago that U.S. commanders considered Moqtada al-Sadr to be the greatest threat to stability in Iraq. Now the Shiite firebrand's stock among the Americans may be rising. Since declaring a ceasefire for his Mahdi Army militia last August, Sadr has effectively disappeared from public life, designating five trusted aides to speak on his behalf. NEWSWEEK has learned that some of those deputies have been secretly meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, to discuss cooperation on improving security, according to two sources who declined to be identified because of the subject's sensitivity. The general's spokesman, Col. Steven Boylan, qualified that assertion, explaining that while Petraeus has not met with Sadr, "the command has indeed had direct engagements with some of his people within the {Sadr} organization … to assist with reconciliation efforts." Boylan also says the military "applauded" Sadr's ceasefire.

[TwilightGardener]

8. I doubt that--if he were imprisoned, his followers would be inciting

a riot of violence. I would bet my left arm we're paying him, lots and lots of money. We've put most of the Sunni tribal leaders on our payroll, why would we treat al-Sadr any differently? A few weeks ago, we bombed the shit out of a bunch of women and children in Sadr City, and his aides threatened that al Sadr would call his militia back into service for revenge, and then...nothing. Money, and promises of power--that's how you get control of people. We didn't kill him for a reason--we need him to keep control of his people.

[NNN0LHI]

9. Saddam could have been bought off cheaply

But for Bush and his thugs that isn't enough. These people are sick fucks. They enjoy causing pain, humiliation and death. They live for it. If nothing else they have proven that.

Don

[TwilightGardener]

10. Yes--we had other ways of controlling and/or marginalizing Saddam--

there was no need for war, and everyone knows it now. But we keep up the pretense that we're still waging a battle for FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY over there. If the American people haven't caught on by now that the entire invasion and occupation were for nefarious purposes, they never will.

[necso]

11. "They also said U.S. forces and Sadr's forces

now have a common enemy: so-called 'special groups' that once were aligned with Sadr but have splintered from the main organization."