Old worry about the surge–it wouldn’t deal with Sadr. New worry about the surge–it will deal with Sadr too effectively. As Jim Robbins noted earlier, there are stories that Sadr has taken off to Iran. There are also denials out there. Who knows what’s true, but this passage in the Times story struck me as just too much: “If Mr. Sadr had indeed fled, his absence would create a vacuum that could allow even more radical elements of the Shiite group to take power.” So now we need to keep Sadr in Iraq because he’s such a stabilizing influence!