The Mahdi Army Calls Time-Out

This looks fairly promising:

After over six weeks of heavy fighting in and around the Mahdi Army stronghold Sadr City, where Mahdi Army forces took lopsided casualties in the fighting, the government and the Sadrist political bloc has signed an agreement to end the fighting. The agreement will allow for the Iraqi military to operate freely inside Sadr City while the Mahdi Army must halt its fighting.

The negotiations, which took place over the course of the last several days, culminated in the signing of a 14-point agreement. Both Iraqi government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh and Sadrist spokesman Sheikh Salih al Ubaydi confirmed an agreement was reached.

The JAM seems to be having trouble grasping the concept that stand-up fighting with a real military isn't good for their health. This whole episode, while interrupting the prolonged quiet that had settled over Iraq, has discredited a major force that had been militating against the Iraqi government.

Kinda looks like we might be down to a severely weakened Al Qaeda still dug in around Mosul and the various Special Group militias. That's progress. (I'm sure McCain is happy...)