“We can’t face the armored tanks of the Americans face to face, because all we have is light guns,” he said. “So we just wait for a chance to attack something.”

Image A PLEA The leaflet, dropped by helicopter, urges Basra residents to welcome government forces who are battling militiamen for control. Credit... Nabil-Al Jurani/Associated Press

He could be dead now, because the next day at least one American helicopter swooped over Sadr City and engaged in a gun battle that killed four, according to American military officials, although Iraqi police put the toll much higher. Or the potbellied deputy could still be out there, plotting his next move. Either way, before dismissing the ragtag Mahdi fighters, it would be well to remember that  partly because the alleys of the neighborhoods they control are too narrow for the Iraqi Army’s armored vehicles  Mahdi units like Riadh’s have been fighting Iraq’s federal forces to a standstill in Basra, the country’s southern port city, for nearly a week now.

Alleys: they are dangerous only when used by those who grew up in them. That is the basic reason Mr. Sadr and his fighters simply will not go away in this war.

What makes the case so difficult is that it is not just a question of a battle with American troops, here from half a world away carrying out operations that Mr. Sadr and his fighters consider an abhorrent occupation. Some 3,500 troops in the Basra fight are Iraqis from outside the province, and witnesses say it is clear that few if any of the Iraqi security forces in the assault know the neighborhoods the way the Mahdi Army does. Its fighters literally pop in and out of alleys, battling a federal force of nearly 30,000 to what is, so far, a stalemate.

What might be called the Alley Effect also has its influence in the political realm. Many of Iraq’s senior political leaders are former exiles, nearly all of them highly intelligent and well educated, and some extremely Westernized. (Although I can’t mention names, some of the most senior leaders of this Muslim country are very fond of a drink now and then. Johnny Walker Red Label, for example, is a particular favorite of one of them  one of the most pleasant and effective, in fact.)