That is the news being reported on CNN right now. Apparently officials in the White House and Pentagon have confirmed to CNN that al Sadr has fled Iraq for Iran – possibly in light of the security crackdown. Of course they are talking about what a “victory” this is.

Luckily CNN has one voice of reason to weigh in on this news – Michael Ware. Ware told Blitzer that once again the disconnect between Washington and Iraq is showing. According to Ware there has been rumors of this for days but no proof and nothing has changed (look at the last 2 days of massive bombings). Even if Sadr has left, what does it mean? As Ware just put it:

Will it make a change if he left? No. Osama bin Laden has been in hiding for how long, yet he is still in charge of al Qaeda and they are still a strong influence.

Exactly. This is another case of “we killed the number 2”. Of course if he did flee to Iraq, what happens when the security crackdown is over? Does he come back and start all over again? What if we leave Iraq in a year, two, or 10? Will he just wait us out?

To sum it up – this is a non breaking news story. Just some typical cheerleading for the administration by the traditional media. True we will hear about this for days to come and it is nothing but speculation at this point.