[KevinTheOmnivore]

We need to decide what Al-Sadhr is. The problem is that we have hoped to curb this guy and contain him, rather than confronting him as an enemy. For a while we hoped folks like Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani could control him, but that clearly isn't the case anymore. His militia layed down their arms for a period of time, but it would appear those days are now long gone.

Either he's an enemy or he's a potential ally. We can't go back and forth on it, and if he's an enemy than we need to treat him as such and deal with whatever consequences (what might happen if we were to kill him, uhhh, a Shiite uprising...?).

We need more troops there, whether that be from our own ranks or from other nations. I'm beginning to wonder if an independent Iraqi government is really the solution there at this point. Everyone talks about how the Iraqi government and military need to step up, but that to me is language used to rationalize withdrawal. Two years from now, ardent supporters of the war will be screaming about how it was the fault of the Iraqis we lost, and not our own.