Petraeus & Sadr Targeting the Special Groups

When the war in Iraq began in 2003, many thought the Shia would be split between Iraqi nationalism and loyalty to Iranian interests. Specifically, Moktada al Sadr was forecast to be the face of Iraqi Shia nationalism while the other major Shia group, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) – since renamed the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) - was thought to be a likely proxy of Iran. Events proved neither forecast correct. The SIIC has broken with Iran, and it was Sadr who became more associated with Iran, though it has never been clear to the degree Sadr was personally cooperating with Iranian interests. By 2006, it was clear that Iran was heavily involved in training, arming and funding at least some nominally Sadr elements in Iran. Now, it appears that Sadr’s group is actively working with General Petraeus and the U.S. military to target elements of his Mahdi Army that have been co-opted by Iran:

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.

Those groups, Newsweek said, are allegedly funded through Iran, and al-Sadr has formed a new unit to go after the special groups -- which are ignoring the ceasefire.

"We do applaud and welcome the efforts of Muqtada al-Sadr in his previous announcement of a ceasefire and what he is doing to try to bring those elements under control. We believe that what has happened (with respect to decreases in violence) can be attributed in part to those efforts.

Read the entire story here. Sadr is, as always, an enigma. The Mahdi Army and Sadr himself lost a great deal of support among rank and file Iraqis for employing tactics against the populace not unlike those of al Qaeda. Indeed, just days ago there was a public meeting in Karbala where Iraqi residents specifically met to charge the Mahdi Army with “a reign of terror” during the period they held sway. This seems an attempt by Sadr to regain some control of the group that bears his name and to remake his own image.