The extraordinary thing about that story is that our fear when we were considering the surge was that Maliki wouldn’t let us go into places like Sadr City. So being able to go anywhere was one of the benchmarks:

Ensure that the Baghdad Security Plan will not provide a safe haven for outlaws of any sectarian or political affiliation.

Now, here is the Iraqi Army taking the lead – albeit hesitantly and with mixed results — in Sadr City.