Battle of Basra--Who controls the real estates?

AP/Houston Chronicle:

An Iraqi commander today led a convoy of troops firing into the air into a militia stronghold that has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the southern city of Basra.

...

The Iraqi troops met no significant resistance today, although an Iraqi cameraman for the U.S.-funded Alhurra TV station was shot, as they set up checkpoints on the edge of the sprawling Hayaniyah district in central Basra and drove through the main streets, according to witnesses.

The incident came three days after anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers off the streets under an Iranian-brokered deal to end the fighting.

Officials with the cleric's Mahdi Army militia in Basra said they tolerated the government move but would fight back if security forces resumed large-scale raids and arrests without warrant.

A Mahdi Army spokesman known as Abu Liqa al-Basri said Iraqi forces had raided some houses in Hayaniyah, then withdrew to a single main street.

He said people were moving freely in the sprawling area and gunmen were keeping a low profile according to al-Sadr's cease-fire order. But he accused the Iraqi security forces of creating a "crisis of trust" by violating al-Maliki's order not to detain people without warrants.

...

That Maliki won without crushing the militia is being described as a defeat by many in the media including the AP. While crushing Sadr's forces is a worthwhile objective, it should not have been the primary objective of the Basra operations.

Controlling the streets and the ports puts the power in the hands of the government and gives the rule of law a chance in the area where it has been absent since the Brits pulled out. In the battle for real estate Sadr is a definite loser.

The Belmont Club and Former Spook join Bill Roggio and PrairiePundit in seeing a victory for the Iraqi army.