I simply cannot keep up with all the news coming out of Iraq dealing with the round up of insurgents, criminals and terrorists from both Sunni and Shiia sides of the political spectrum – not to mention the foreign fighters. It seems the US-Iraqi coalition has arrested a key aid to radical-cleric-in-hiding Sadr:

U.S. officials said Thursday they have detained two brothers, one with ties to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in connection with the killings of five American soldiers in Karbala in January.

“Over the past several days, coalition forces in Basra and Hilla captured Qais Khazali, his brother Laith Khazali and several other members of the Khazali network,” the U.S. military said in a statement.

Qais Khazali has been known to reporters as a spokesman for al-Sadr’s political movement, and Reuters news agency reported that Khazali is a senior aide to the anti-American cleric.

These people seem to be connected to the Iranian-supplied weapons and explosives – which would be a huge hit to al Sadr if he was importing from Iran the death and destruction plaguing Iraq’s Muslims:

On Wednesday, a U.S. official said the brothers were suspected of being part of a network using weapons known as explosively formed projectiles or penetrators. Bush administration officials have alleged that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force have provided these munitions to Shiite groups in Iraq.

In the January 20 attack, nine to 12 gunmen, wearing “American-looking uniforms” and carrying “U.S.-type weapons,” passed easily through checkpoints in sport utility vehicles before opening fire on American soldiers inside a government compound in Karbala, according the U.S. military.

One U.S. soldier was killed and three others wounded in a hand-grenade blast. After the attack, the insurgents drove off with four U.S. soldiers, the military said.

Iraqi police found abandoned vehicles and equipment near the Iraqi town of Al-Mahawil. Three soldiers were dead at the scene, and a fourth one died en route to a hospital.

Well, we now know why Sadr is cowering in Iran. I am curious to what is happening to all these top level turncoats being arrested. We had a deputy minister in the Ministry of Health arrested a while back, but no new word on how he was being processed for funding death squads who killed his fellow government officials. I guess we will soon see a raft of trials start up in Iraq. But the news is poring out of Iraq that things have changed. And the surge is still weeks away from being at its peak force levels.