Tactical Victory for Iraqi Security

I believe its a mistake to `tag and release' which is happening to some Mahdi fighters; however, three days after Muqtada al Sadr ordered the Mahdi Army to withdraw from the fighting in Baghdad and the Shia South, the Maliki government continued the fight. The "criminal elements" are being targeted just as the U.S. military has done. Simultaneously, the Iraqi security forces are continuing operations in Basrah. At least some military analysts are saying the Iraqis were defeated by the Sadr thugs but the good news is that they were able to logistically carry out the most sophisticated military offensive since the Saddam era, and hold their own against combat troops for the first time.