The Mahdi flare up is showing signs of expanding

(AP) (Sadr City) "Shiite militiamen are everywhere. Police and Iraqi army checkpoints are nowhere in sight. U.S. soldiers are keeping their distance.....

Al-Sadr's militia forces, estimated at about 60,000, now seem itching for a fight." (Good overview article.)

(AP) "Shiite militants are hammering the U.S.-protected Green Zone with rockets and mortars for the fourth day this week. Thick, black smoke is billowing from inside the heavily fortified home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government."

(Reuters) "Saboteurs blew up one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra, cutting off a third of the exports from the city which provides 80 percent of the government's revenue.....

A massive mortar bombardment struck the main riverside police base at Basra palace before noon on Thursday and heavy shooting broke out in a main commercial street in the city.....

Mortar bombs, most apparently fired from the Sadr City area, have exploded across Baghdad for days."

(TimesOnline) "Fighting has spread in the past two days to the southern cities of Kut, Hilla, Diwaniya, Amara and Kerbala."

(NYTimes) Iraqi Army’s Assault on Militias in Basra Stalls.(Good read.)

Later: (AP) "A Pentagon official said Wednesday that reports from the Basra area indicate that militiamen had overrun a number of police stations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly."

(PS. Maliki went down to Basra to "oversee" the operations. He gave the local Mahdi a 72 hour ultimatum. What happens if it doesn't resolve by Friday/Saturday? Does he stay in Basra for weeks? Leave and give the impression he's failed?)