Picture Chicago when they finally took on Capone. Thats whats happening in Basra. The area was calm before only because the local government is in league with the militias. The escalation in violence is not because things are falling apart, its because the central government is FINALLY taking a stand against the bad guys.
I understand about Basra, but the Sadr’s supporters are trying to widen the concflict and that simply cannot be allowed to happend. Fortunately, it looks like most of the conflict is occurring between rival Shiite factions, and doesn’t appear to risk dragging the Sunnis back into fighting.