exercise

Anti-American Muqtada's al-Sadr Shiite militia briedly seized control of a southern Iraqi town. The Iraqi military and milia came and negotiated a withdrawl. This probably was a test to see where the Americans are strong and weak and how loyal the Iraqi police are to them and to Iraqi and its many groups. If they wanted to kill, groups have shown great willingness to kill and die to meet their objectives. Here, it appears that it was a mere exercise, in that there weren't hundreds slaughtered or killed execution style to make a point. I believe this is a new, safer strategy for the groups, saving their strength and numbers to do a walkthrough before the seige.

The Kurds are the people who should worry now, for they are a feared, yet more successful group without allies in the region. If the same tactic were used in the north, I would see it as a direct training exercise to find where the "walls are thinnest".