The ‘fragile’ escalation.

The New York Times reports that “officials” attribute the decreased violence in Iraq in part to “a six-month halt to military action by the militia of a top Shiite leader, Moktada al-Sadr.” Sadr, who has three months to go on his pledge, isn’t giving any indications that his followers will accept a long-term “enduring presence” of Iraq:

“I say this to the evil Bush – leave my country,” Sadr said in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. “We do not need you and your army of darkness,” he said.

“We don’t need your planes and tanks. We don’t need your policy and your interference. We don’t want your democracy and fake freedom. Get out of our land.”

UPDATE: Max Bergmann wonders: “What sense did it make to institute a strategy that was not sustainable from the get-go?”