Moqtada al-Sadr is back, proving that he’s still a force in Iraqi politics

[Sally]

Maybe this time al-Sadr, instead of being troublesome to the government, will use his huge militia to fight ISIS.



Moqtada al-Sadr is back, proving that he’s still a force in Iraqi politics

• Friday, 01 April 2016 20:21

shafaq news / Moqtada al-Sadr, the troublesome cleric whose militia repeatedly battled U.S. troops more than a decade ago, is back in action in Iraq — this time as a champion of political reforms.



And what a comeback it has been, replete with high political drama, bold gestures of choreographed symbolism and moments of nerve-racking tension that have seen Baghdad brace for a potential new war.

Sadr’s return to the limelight began in February, when he emerged from years of self-imposed retirement from politics to lead a mass protest campaign calling for the creation of a new government and an end to the corrupt practices of the country’s despised political elite.

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Moqtada al-Sadr is back, proving that he’s still a force in Iraqi politics?

 

[Sunni Man]

Oh my!!! .......

 

[waltky]

Granny says sumbody needs to kick the Shiite outta him...

Who is Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr?
Thu May 5, 2016 - Muqtada al-Sadr isn't an ayatollah.

He's not a general and he's not a politician, at least in the conventional sense.
But with a single speech he can spark a protest that ends up in with hundreds of Iraqi Shiites storming their parliament. He's commanded a militia of thousands, some who fought and killed U.S. and Iraqi soldiers. And he's been on TIME Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people on the planet. This is how he's managed to gain such prominence -- and retain it.

The Sadr family

Sadr was born in 1973 in the Shiite holy city of Najaf to a prominent family. The city, which is about 100 miles south of Baghdad, is home to the Imam Ali shrine, where the eponymous cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad is buried. Shiites believe that Ali was the rightful successor to Muhammad. Sadr's father, Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, was an important Shiite figure in Iraq who openly spoke out against Saddam Hussein and his ruling Baath party. The elder Sadr and two of his sons were assassinated in 1999 in Najaf, and many believe that he was killed either by the dictator's forces or Sunnis loyal to him. Despite the cult of personality Muqtada al-Sadr has developed in recent years, he is still a relatively private man. He does not appear in public often and his exact age was not known until recently.

The Mehdi Army

Sadr is best known to Western audiences for his role leading the Mehdi Army, which he formed in 2003 during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The militia is considered the armed wing of the Sadrist movement, which followed the teachings of Sadr's father. Its power base was in Najaf and the massive Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, which is home to more than 2 million Shias. Sadr himself opposed the presence of outside forces in Iraq -- be they al Qaeda's Sunni fighters or U.S. forces -- and hoped to establish Islamic rule within the country, clashing with the Iraqi Army, U.S. forces and fellow Shias.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr​

By 2004, forces loyal to Sadr battled the U.S. for control of Najaf. President George W. Bush labeled him an enemy and ordered the U.S. military to take him out. "We can't allow one man to change the course of the country," he said, according to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Within a week, Bush changed course and decided not to go after him. "That reversal was the turning point in al-Sadr's rise to power," Sanchez, who commanded U.S. forces in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, said. "It gave him legitimacy and enhanced his stature within the broader Iraqi community." Later that year, Sadr made peace with the most powerful Shia religious figure in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who brokered a truce between U.S. forces and the Mehdi Army. The deal brought together the unquestioned spiritual leader of Iraq's Shia population and the man who could mobilize the Shia "street."

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