AL-SADR: SURGE THIS!!!

Many of us know how fragile the security gains were because they are primarily dependent not on U.S. forces but on the Iraqis themselves. Today we have a little more evidence of that fragility:

Sadr militia battle troops in four Iraqi cities
6 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Moqtada al-Sadr's militiamen battled troops in four Iraqi cities on Tuesday, including the capital, as the hardline Shiite cleric threatened a countrywide campaign of civil revolt.

The fighting, which severely strains a ceasefire declared by Sadr in late August and renewed last month, prompted the cleric to issue a stern warning that he would launch protests and a nationwide strike if attacks against his movement and "poor people" are not halted.

"We demand that religious and political leaders intervene to stop the attacks on poor people. We call on all Iraqis to launch protests across all the provinces.

"If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces," Sadr said in a statement read by his representative Hazam al-Aaraji in the holy city of Najaf.

Liqa al-Yassin, an MP from the Sadr bloc, told AFP that the Sadrists would boycott parliamentary proceedings "until the government agrees to our demands."

"We are also starting a signature campaign to express no confidence in (Prime Minister) Nuri al-Maliki's government," he said.