Baby Steps to Security in Iraq

the US has been inching up on sadr in najaf and kufa, and without a major outrage of the the arab street:

*NOTE* this is the nth time the left has been wrong about the possible outcome of any US action. credibility problem? maybe.

....the result? today they caught a major lieutenant:

U.S. Troops Capture Key Iraqi Lieutenant

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops captured a key lieutenant of radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr during overnight clashes in Najaf that killed 24 people and wounded nearly 50, hospital and militia officials said.

Riyadh al-Nouri, al-Sadr's brother-in-law, offered no resistance when American troops raided his home during a series of clashes in this Shiite holy city, according to Azhar al-Kinani, a staffer in al-Sadr's office in Najaf.

The capture of al-Nouri would be a major blow to al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army, which has been battling coalition forces since early April. Al-Sadr launched his uprising in response to a crackdown by coalition authorities who announced an arrest warrant against him in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric in Najaf.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, coalition deputy chief of operations, said al-Nouri was also sought in the murder of the cleric, Abdul Majid al-Khoei, and would be handed over to Iraqi authorities for prosecution.