U.S. seizes Sadr aide as Gates visits Iraq - Why don't they just pick up Sadr?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/U_S_seizes_Sadr_aide_as_Gates_visits_Iraq.html?siteSect=143&sid=7442223&cKey=1169224049000

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi troops seized a prominent spokesman for Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday, confronting a movement that has a key role in the ruling coalition but is accused by Washington of running death squads.

The midnight raid near Baghdad's Sadr City district, which Sadr's aides called an "American provocation", came as U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates flew in to the southern city of Basra to meet the commander in Iraq, General George Casey.

Dealing with Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia is a burning issue for U.S. forces and Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as they prepare what many see as a last-ditch effort to rein in sectarian violence that is pushing Iraq into civil war.

Gates said Iraq was at a "pivotal moment" and failure would be a "calamity" for U.S. interests.

Sadr, a young populist cleric with a mass following and some backing from Shi'ite Iran, is an ally of Maliki, who has been criticised by Washington and leaders of the once dominant Sunni Arab minority for failing so far to disarm the Mehdi Army.


Notice Sadr has went from being described as a "young firebrand cleric" to a "young populist cleric" as of late? Wonder what brought that on?

[spanone]

1. Or bin Laden perhaps?

[necso]

2. A smear (by "association") on populists and populism?

(Al-Sadr is the bad-guy of the moment, and once he's taken-care-of... -- You know the drill.)

"and some backing from Shi'ite Iran": Would that be as opposed to "a lot of backing from Shi'ite Iran"... like some other groups?

[tblue]

3. They're terrified of reprisals, and rightly so.