Sunnis being pushed from mixed areas of Baghdad Sunnis being pushed from mixed areas of Baghdad

NYT: Shiites Rout Sunni Families in Mixed Area of Baghdad is a good indication of part of what is happening in Iraq right now - ethnic cleansing of the Sunni Arabs, in this case, from a mixed neighborhood in north-central Baghdad. Similarly, WaPo article: For Iraq's Sunnis, Conflict Closes In: Mixed Neighborhoods Unravel as Shiite Militiamen Expand Violence. Sadr's Mahdi Army seems to be behind much of the anti-Sunni sectarian violence right now.

But some MSM articles are blaming the whole mess on Sadr. I think that naive, esp. in view of the last four years of increasingly brutal and indiscriminate murder of Shiite civilians by Sunni jihadists, notably al Qaeda and former Baathists. Much of the Shiite community now has had family or friends killed by them, and Sadr is to some extent venting the frustration of the Shiite community. Because of the Sunni on Shiite violence, many in the later community have now decided that the only way to safety is to push the Sunni Arabs out.