The so called "success" of the surge is about to unravel.

A cease-fire critical to the improved security situation in Iraq appeared to unravel Monday when a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr began shutting down neighborhoods in west Baghdad and issuing demands of the central government.

Simultaneously, in the strategic southern port city of Basra, where Sadr's Mahdi militia is in control, the Iraqi government launched a crackdown in the face of warnings by Sadr's followers that they'll fight government forces if any Sadrists are detained. By 1 a.m. Arab satellite news channels reported clashes between the Mahdi Army and police in Basra.

The freeze on offensive activity by Sadr's Mahdi Army has been a major factor behind the recent drop in violence in Iraq, and there were fears that the confrontation that's erupted in Baghdad and Basra could end the lull in attacks, assassinations, kidnappings and bombings.

This is why our so-called surge has had any impact at all.

And what is not widely known is that the U.S. government is paying al Sadr and his people to keep a lid on the violence.

Think about it . We are paying these people not to kill each other, and we are paying them with money we are borrowing from China, which our children are going to have to payback in the decades to come. That is how the the Bush administration measures success.