From USA Today:

Coalition forces have detained about 700 members of the Mahdi Army, the largest Shiite militia in Baghdad, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday.The militia, which is loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and has clashed with U.S. troops in the past, has mostly avoided a direct confrontation with American and Iraqi government forces, Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview with USA TODAY.
Some of the militia’s top leaders have left the capital, and Iraqi government officials are negotiating with al-Sadr’s political organization in an effort to disband the militia, Petraeus said.
“I think in part one reason that al-Sadr’s militia has been lying low … is due to some of the discussions being held,” Petraeus said in a telephone interview from Iraq. “It’s also in part due to some of the leaders leaving Baghdad” and others being arrested, he said.

This is the second time in a week that USA Today has led the paper with positive-oriented stories from Iraq about the surge. Why don’t we ever see something similar from other papers, particularly the New York Times?