Victory for Maliki?, yes, but it’s much more.

“BAGHDAD ‚Äî Followers of rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr agreed late Friday to allow Iraqi security forces to enter all of Baghdad’s Sadr City and to arrest anyone found with heavy weapons in a surprising capitulation that seemed likely to be hailed as a major victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.

In return, Sadr’s Mahdi Army supporters won the Iraqi government’s agreement not to arrest Mahdi Army members without warrants, unless they were in possession of “medium and heavy weaponry.”

The agreement would end six weeks of fighting in the vast Shiite Muslim area that’s home to more than 2 million residents and would mark the first time that the area would be under government control since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. On Friday, 15 people were killed and 112 were injured in fighting, officials at the neighborhoods two major hospitals said.

It also would be a startling turnaround in fortunes for Maliki, who’d been widely criticized for picking a fight with Sadr’s forces, first in the southern port city of Basra and then in Sadr City.”

Sadr had no choice, he was loosing thugs via the American/Iraqi forces, but most important support of the local populace due to collateral casualties. However, a small concern.

“Sadr supporter Araji, however, said the agreement specifically barred American forces from entering Sadr City.

“The Iraqi forces, not the American forces, can come into Sadr City and search for weapons,” Araji said. “We don’t have big weapons, and we want this to stop.”

It gets back to the meaning of “big”. Is a IED “big”? An AK-47 isn’t big, but it puts big holes in people. I would prefer a total disarmment and more arrests, but we’ll take it.

Nevertheless, this is a big story from the standpoint of something more than just the Iraqi government’s taking charge of their own affairs. Even the offensive against Sadr’s forces which was unmistakable and swift.

It’s a big story because of who is really responsible for the success - the people of Sadr City.

“A government supporter said the Sadrists were brought to the table by the anger of Sadr City residents. On Thursday, the Iraqi military ordered Sadr City residents to evacuate in apparent preparation for a major offensive push.

“It is not the government who pressured the Sadrists into entering this agreement,” said Ali al Adeeb, a leading member of the Dawa party. “It is the pressure from the people inside Sadr City and from their own people that will make them act more responsibly.”

In a democracy it’s the will of the people that rules and here we can call that principal a glowing success.