…actually, that’s likely to’ve been recent. Iraqi bloggers paying attention to whom Iran was supporting reported until recently that they were only seeing evidence of a different extreme militia being supported.

So Sadr is seen by many as a “man of the people,”

By a few hundred thousand out of a population of 27M, a whomping few percent of the country. About as many as supported Nader in 2000, say.

The rest don’t like his ethnic cleansing practices, violent extremism, and gangster-like treatment of those unfortunate to be on his turf. Some of those who do support him are doing so at gunpoint.

His influence USED to be growing, because he was more and more the only man who could deliver under the worsening security that he did so much to foster. Since the Administration FINALLY was forced to realize that internal security is an expected responsibility of conquerors, al’Sadr has been losing power by the increasing enforcement of justice for his mens’ crimes.

Peace with Coalition troops has always been his strategy – that’s how he grew big – our men didn’t care how he killed, hurt, ethnically cleansed, whatever, so long as it was Iraqis and not Coalition soldiers.