Here’s a discussion of Muqtada al Sadr from Raed Jarrar who posts on his Iraqi blog Raed in the Middle.
Muqtada, is younger than me. He is around 25 years old, spent all of his life in Iraq studying in religious schools, I think he is very introverted, defensive and acting like a rebel. Yet, he is very smart and pragmatic. He started working immediately after the war stopped, inherited the popularity of his father and used it as a starting point. He knows that his age and religious degree doesn’t allow him to represent himself as a leader for Iraq, that’s why he started and maintained strong relations with the Iranian very well respected religious personality: Al-Haeri.
Considering Al-Haeri as his religious reference gave him the chance to go ahead with his Anti-American, Anti-Saddam perspective with a strong religious cover.
AsSadr opened offices and mosques in the cities of the south and in Saddam city (Athawra) in Baghdad, which he managed to change its name to AsSadr city. AsSdr city is a huge gridiron city inside Baghdad that one million Shia people live in, it is the area of the poor, vulnerable and uneducated people, and it is the weapons market of Baghdad, you can get a grenade for $5 or a machine gun for $50.
He created a parallel Iraqi government, as an alternative option beside the CPA, he selected ministers too.
And, maybe the most important thing he could arrange, he controlled a very important part of the religious establishment of Shia Iraqis … (Al-Hawza).
Everyone was underestimating him; Bremer, political leaders, media, most of my friends, my parents. But I didn’t… at all.
From my frequent visits to the south, I could really feel and see the actual strength and authorities AsSadr have, and the real possibility that he will be a key person in the next stage of the Iraqi history.
White revolutions were happening in the southern cities, without anyone noticing that. A strong Shia-Shia competition, which reached to fighting some times, happened between AsSdr and Al-Hakim (assassinated last year in the huge explosion at Najaf). Cities like Amara, Kut, Diwanyya and Simawa were completely controlled by AsSadr party, and Nasryya had dramatic demonstrations that changed the Al-Hakim people in the governorate and replaced them with AsSadr representatives.
One of my dear friends at Najaf told me once that the “Najafians” call Al-Hakim party: the rational stream, and they call AsSadr party: the chaotic one. For sure Al-Hakim had decades of experience and political work, and a strong backup and support from the Iranian government, but AsSadr was just starting.
Then, AsSadr established his own militia: Al-Mahdi Army, with blessings from AyatoAllah Al-Haeri… tens of thousands of Iraqis joined the new army under the eyes of everyone.
The thing that I want to make obvious here is the well designed political and military steps of AsSadr, that I’m sure no one even heard about.
Do you know why you didn’t hear much about him earlier?
Because AsSade wasn’t noisy enough to drag the attention of Bremer and the international media, the undesigned explosions of Falluja did.When the CPA decides to close the AsSadr newspaper and arrest his assistant, they should expect to have real clashes… I mean REAL ones.
Can’t everyone see how much is the American administration lost? Can’t you feel the lack of vision? Can’t you see the bloody results of the slow and stupid policy that has no orientation?
This is an excerpt; read the rest here.