So, isn’t this how political progress works? Sadr’s a political leader with a “military wing” as it were. Circumstances have required him to rein in his violent activities. Even if this is a scheme, he’s had to say these things in public, which itself is a constraint on his perceived ability to use violence. As a result, doesn’t this mean that the space for politics has increased? It’s hardly the Treaty of Westphalia or anything, and maybe this is all a ruse, but how is this not the sort of incremental political progress we’re supposed to be looking for?