'A New Hezbollah in Iraq? Not if the US sows further sedition!'

"...Like Hezbollah, the Sadrist Trend is becoming a well-organized, entrenched part of the Iraqi polity. With the Iraqi government unable to provide adequate security and services, al-Sadr has stepped in with action and rhetoric that resonate with the Shia masses. He is following the same playbook that Hezbollah used to gain strength in Lebanon.
Yet Iraq may not go down the Lebanese path. Unlike Hezbollah, the Sadrist Trend lacks a reliable external patron in Iran. Rising tensions between Moktada al-Sadr and Tehran, together with escalating intra-Shia violence in Iraq, reveal that the group does not always share Iran’s agenda. This creates an opportunity for the United States to capitalize on the intra-Shia cleavages and counterbalance Iran’s destabilizing interference in Iraq. ..."