Curfew Ends, Fightng Continues

The curfew ended early this morning, so life is returning to relative normalcy here in the city. Our household staff came in this morning and told me that the fighting still continues in Sadr City despite al-Sadr's call for his followers to withdraw from the streets, CNN is reporting the same thing. It's an indicator that al-Sadr's grip on the Mahdi Army may not be as strong as once thought. Also, to be fair, not all of the insurgents belong to the Mahdi Army, as there has been a lot of fracturing of insurgent groups lately, especially around Sadr City.

The staff that live in the northern part of the city complained of being tired from the three days of constant bombardment either by other insurgent groups or by the U.S. military. I can't imagine what it must be like to be hold up in your house with your family as the world erupts around you. Doesn't make for a peaceful night's sleep.

Finally, a lot of guys are talking about the "way ahead" for Iraq. More than one person has likened the future of this country to Lebanon. That's not hard to imagine given the heavy Shi'a influence and weak central government. Certainly there are differences, but all-in-all I think that's a pretty good comparison, albeit not a pretty one.