Shi'ite flag flies over Basra police station

There are conflicting reports over the fate of a base in Basra that was recently evacuated by British forces. In theory, the Iraqi Police, which the British shared the station with, were supposed to take over control. However, there have been reports that the Mahdi Army, a Shi'ite militia, has taken over the base. Trying to refute those reports, a British Ministry of Defence spokesman said that a green Shi'ite flag was now flying over the base, rather than the black (and also Shi'ite) Mahdi Army flag (BBC).

So, even if the Iraqi Police is now in charge of the base, they are flying a sectarian flag, rather than a national one. This makes me wonder, at least for a moment, if the "Coalition of the Willing" is setting Iraq up for something like what was seen in Palestine and India in 1947-48, even if unintentionally.

Talabani: Mahdi Army stops reprisals

The Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, has announced that the Mahdi Army, a Shi'ite militia loyal to the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, has stopped attacking Sunnis. The group is suspected of carrying out punitive raids on Sunnis, including the summary execution of Sunni men, following suicide bombings in Shi'ite areas, allegedly carried out by Sunnis. According to Talabani, the new security plan championed by the US (involving an increased American presence in Baghdad and confrontations with both Sunni and Shi'ite militias) has forced "brother Moqtada Sadr" to ask his followers to stop attacking "brother Sunni Arabs" (BBC).

If this is true, the news certainly represents a major success for the new US policy. However, if previous experience is a guide, we are likely to see more of Sadr and his militants. In 2003 or 2004, I watched Danielle Pletka, the American Enterprise Institute's supposed expert on Iraq, say that Sadr should be treated "as the irrelevancy he is". For better or worse, though, the man has proven himself nothing if not relevant since then.