US/Brit Forces should have pruned al-Sadr when they had the chance when al-Sadr was surrounded at that mosque in 2004.
Now, he continues to be a thorn.
He must be dealt with. He is funded by Tehran.
Peters is correct -- you can't have a politicial/diplomatic solution until you've won the war.
There was an article on Best of the Web, yesterday, from a sergeant who is stationed north of Baghdad. The man was advocating that the US take back control of Iraq and start over training the military and police. He said that the Iraqis don't understand federalism and have divided loyalties that just don't function in the military or police, they need to be thoroughly indoctrinated into the system.
What is really the problem is Islam. It is really a political system that utilizes religion to maintain control of the people. Islam doesn't recognize any other system as legitimate, even other sects of Islam.