Expert: Sadr playing waiting game in Iraq

[bemildred]

WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- Mahdi Army leader Moqtada Sadr is playing a waiting game in Iraq, a leading U.S. military analyst said Tuesday.

Anthony H. Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a Washington think tank, wrote in a CSIS study published Tuesday that Sadr had "stated that the Mahdi army should stand down and refrain from attacks on Coalition forces and from reprisal attacks against Sunni insurgents."

"Sadr also attempted to publicly align himself with moderates as well as conciliatory Sunni elements. This did not prevent incidents of violence by Mahdi army members against Sunnis and other Shiites, despite Sadr's public stance discouraging these acts," Cordesman wrote.

"Sadr's ability to take several different positions in opposition, and claim to pursue both Shiite and nationalist goals gives him a political advantage," the analyst wrote. "At the same time, having most of his militia stand down, while having U.S. and Iraqi government forces concentrate on the Sunni extremist threat, may allow him to wait out the U.S. presence in the field while expanding his influence and the strength of his forces."

If this is all it takes to be an "expert", sign me up. This is trivia and the obvious dressed up a deep thought.

http://www.upi.com/Security_Terrorism/Briefing/2007/07/10/expert_sadr_playing_waiting_game_in_iraq/5337/