Update:  BTW, I predicted back on April 7th Sadr would surrender in the end.  Looks like I got one right!  – end update

The final cleansing of the Mahdi Army control in Iraq is happening today as Iraqi Forces swarm in to take control of the last bastion of the Mahdi Army, at the relief of the residents who have been living under the jack boot of the Islamo Fascists.  Lots of reports out today with interesting snippets.  Here’s the first example:

Residents said the Iraqi army had moved into Sadr City in the early hours.

“I saw more than 40 Iraqi Humvees (army vehicles) in the major street in my district,” said 53-year-old Hamza Hashim.

Iraqi soldiers took over a disused police station in his district, while others moved into high buildings and deployed snipers, he said.

A health official resident in Sadr City, who asked not to be named, said no one had fired at the army and the district was quiet. Shops and schools were closed, residents said.

Political analysts said the operation was aimed at disarming Sadr’s Mehdi army in line with the truce agreement.

“It is a positive operation to get rid of the gunmen … Any militia should be disbanded. We can’t have militias beside the state military army,” said Kadhum al-Muqdadi, a Baghdad University professor.

And here is another:

Iraqi troops poured into the Baghdad Shiite bastion of Sadr City on Tuesday for the first time in eight weeks, without resistance from militias who have fought deadly street battles with US forces.

Large numbers of heavily armed soldiers fanned out in Sadr City for the first time since heavy fighting broke out between loyalists of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and American security forces in late March.

…

“Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers are deployed in different sectors of the city,” an officer leading a unit of armoured vehicles told AFP. He said troops had already removed several mines from the city.

“The citizens are cooperating with the Iraqi forces, they welcomed our presence. There were no attacks that targeted the Iraqi military. The situation is peaceful.”

An AFP reporter in Sadr City said residents were welcoming the soldiers who began spreading out in to the sprawling district of two million people while American soldiers remain on guard outside.

And more here:

Iraqi officials say the first phase of the operation will restore security along the district’s main roads. A second phase, during which Iraqi soldiers are expected to conduct intelligence-driven searches for banned weapons, is expected to start as soon as soldiers can safely navigate the streets of Sadr City.

…

An official with the cleric’s office in Sadr City said residents met the soldiers warmly.

“The situation is very calm and people are going about their business,” said the official, who identified himself only as Abu Zaineb. “There is a good response from the people toward the Iraqi troops. They are sitting down with them and there is no tension.”

Abu Zaineb said Sadr leaders expect that Iraqi troops will begin targeted searches as soon as they secure the area enough to operate safely. He said Sadr officials hope the raids will be conducted respectfully.

And finally more here:

Some 10,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by tanks, pushed deep into Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Baghdad bastion on Tuesday, stamping the government’s authority on an area until now outside its control.

…

Thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police and columns of military vehicles moved into the suburb in the early hours, past burned-out wrecks of buildings and along rubble-strewn streets.

“We are taking control of three quarters of (Sadr) city. What is left is the final quarter,” said a spokesman for Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

The fact that (a) the citizens of Sadr City are welcoming this action and (b) the Sadrist block is promoting this action means Maliki has, in essence, subdued the Sadrist movement which must now disarm.  The intelligence must be extensive and I would suspect to see lots of reports of Mahdi Militia being rounded up and lots of weapons seized.   The Mahdi rebellion is over now that Sadr City has fallen like Basra did. Expect to see reports of happy and liberated Iraqis from this last bastion of the Mahdi Army as we did after Basra was liberated a few weeks ago.

It seems we will see success in Iraq before the end of the summer – which means the liberals are going to pay a heavy price at the polls in November, just as the Sadrists will at the Iraqi polls in October.  George Bush is going to leave office with Iraq fully on the path to stability and freedom.  And for those who quit too soon and wanted to leave before we finished the job we started there will be only complete loss of credibility and respect.

Update:  al-Qaeda is even lamenting the devastation that has been inflicted on them!  

The author tallies up and compares the numbers of operations claimed by each insurgent group under four categories: a year and half ago (November 2006), a year ago (May 2007), six months ago (November 2007) and now (May 2008). He demonstrated that while Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq could claim 334 operations in Nov. 06 and 292 in May 07, their violent output dropped to 25 in Nov. 07 and 16 so far in May 08. Keep in mind that these assessments are based on Al-Qaeda’s own numbers.

The author also shows that similar steep drops were exhibited by other jihadist groups […]

Seems only the liberals in the West are still delusional enough to ignore the trend lines to victory coming this year.