Getting the Point

Seems that the Maliki government has finally figured something out that you'd think has been apparent for some time. It's the militia's, stupid:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday that Iraq's armed forces are set for an assault on Baghdad to take out militias and rogue security forces.

Aided by multinational troops, the Iraqi forces "will hunt down all outlaws regardless of their sectarian and political affiliations," al-Maliki said at an Iraqi Army Day parade.

"We will also severely punish those [security forces] who do not carry out orders or operate in a partisan or sectarian way," he said.

Forces will search out insurgents neighborhood-by-neighborhood, The Associated Press reported, and will start the assault this weekend.

Captain Ed, with an ironic bit of rhetoric, attributes the new strategy to a recent "come to Jesus" moment:

It probably was what a former boss of mine used to call "come to Jesus" meetings -- meaning that the purpose of the meeting was to convey an unvarnished and unpleasant reality, usually as a final warning before more drastic steps needed to be taken.

Bush needs Maliki to stop protecting Sadr's Mahdi Army and to take the steps necessary to break it and the rest of the militias, because without the participation of the Iraqis, the US cannot hope to clear and hold the necessary territory in Baghdad.

Whatever Bush said, it seems to have motivated Maliki. He now has the right idea, as long as he's willing to meet the rhetoric with the appropriate action. That means that he has to marginalize Moqtada al-Sadr politically, a dangerous prospect for a prime minister who leveraged Sadr's political heft to rise to the top. If he expects to stay there, he needs to end the sectarian militia war in his own capital -- and I suspect that's exactly what Bush took two hours to say this morning.

Regardless the reason, the change is welcome though it begs many a question as to why it has taken so long getting to this point. Is he weak? Is he protecting Al-Sadr because he forms the base for Maliki's support?

Again, regardless the reason, this is the right move; hopefully not too-little, too-late.