The Sadr Coalition

Maybe this is just me, but I found this somewhat important.

About 50 leaders representing a variety of Iraqi political blocs took to Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday, a stronghold of fiery religious leader Muqtada al Sadr, to protest the U.S.-led siege of that area.

The leaders promised to work together with Sadrists to remove insurgents and weapons in the area. But they also had six other demands of the government, including that it immediately suspend military activity in the city, supply basic services to residents and prioritize peaceful solutions over military conflicts.

"Whatever point the crisis reaches we will keep our efforts to put an end to it," said Ahmed Radhi, a member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni Muslim bloc. Radhi said the leaders formed a committee to meet with Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to solve problems plaguing Sadr City.

The Accordance Front recently returned to the government, which signaled hope among a few that there actually is a center taking hold in Iraq. This demonstration dampens that outlook. The Maliki government is trying to disband the Sadrists but this shows that Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds are opposed to it. And since Sadr himself has called for an end to fighting among Iraqis and a movement toward the "liberation of ourselves and our lands from the occupier," and since the Green Zone, the symbol of the occupiers, is under near-constant attack, I'd say there's a far different consensus taking root.