Hakim has always been in bed with Iran even more then Sadr.
The reason the WH has been looking at helping to create a coalition government with his party in the lead is unlike Sadr he has not been believed to be behind attacks on US forces.
The reason these raids happened were likely to see if in fact his militia has been working with Iran to kill Americans. If this is the case then the US might as well support an Iraqi Army coup of the government to put the seculars in because it means both the biggest Shia parties the SCIRI and the Sadrists are working with Iran to not only kill Sunni civilians, but kill our troops.
That's interesting. I hadn't thought of a secular coup by the Army...he populace would probably never stand for it, especially after it would be denounced by sistani.
Iran is playing a very clever hand, here. They sponsor just enough violence to make Iraq look chaotic, and just enough tension with the Sunnis to break the image of Sunni hegemony. Iraqi society has been dominated by Arab Sunnis so long, that this recent struggle has given new confidence to the demographically dominant but long oppressed Shia.
How does Iran benefit? Simple. They're slowly pushing the idea of secular, peaceful coexistence into the ground, they're nudging us to leave, and they've laid the groundwork to control the ruins of the Iraqi state. They're not trying to win the war against us, they're trying to win the peace. And they will, easily, at this rate. Iraq is 5 years at the most from becoming a full fledged satellite state of Iran. It's checkmate in 10 moves, unless the Iraqi Army or some other coup movement overturns the chessboard.
We were outplayed by the Iranians, and skillfully so.
US might as well support an Iraqi Army coup of the government to put the seculars in