Once battling U.S. troops in the fierce April 4 to May 1, 2003 Battle of Fallujah, 44-year-old radical Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr won Iraq’s May 12 parliamentary elections. Al-Sadr had a big bounty on his head when his 10,000-strong al-Mahdi army strung U.S. soldiers up on a bridge over the Euphrates River. Al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi army did what Saddam Hussein’s Baathist army couldn’t do: Defend Iraq from the March 20, 2003 U.S. invasion. Before the battle of Fallujah ended May 1, Baghdad fell to U.S. forces, forcing Saddam into hiding. Al-Sadr was hunted by U.S. forces with a big bounty on his head before he sought refuge in Tehran, protected from the U.S. military by Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Mullah regime.. Al-Sadr stayed hidden in Iran until he returned to Iraq in 2011. Al-Sadr was given safe passge to Tehran by former U.S.-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Fulfilling a prophecy of his dead father Mohammed Mohammed Sadeq al-Sader, murdered by Sunni extremists Feb. 19, 1999, Muqtada returned to Iraq Jan. 5, 2011, around two weeks after former President Barack Obama ordered U.S. forces out of Iraq Dec. 15, 2011. Obama filled a campaign promise to end the unpopular Iraq War where 4,497 U.S. soldiers lost their lives. Al-Sadr cleverly returned to Iraq more popular than ever, building his coalition to eventually return to power. Whether despised by U.S. troops or not, it was inevitable that the radical Shiite cleric would return to Iraq and reclaim a popular nationalist role. It’s no accident that al-Sadr captured more votes than U.S.-backed Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Unlike al-Abadi and al-Maliki, al-Sadr battled U.S. forces from the beginning the March 20, 2003 Iraq War.
No one was more anti-American than al-Sadr before, during and after the fall of Baghad, through the hanging of Saddam Hussein Dec. 30, 2006. Al-Sadr, who derived his populist appeal from a Baghdad slum named Sadr City, did everything possible to pay for toppling Saddam Hussein, leading Iraq nationalists to eventually prevail on Nouri al-Maliki to get U.S. forces out of Iraq. Al-Malki, while backed by former President George W. Bush, has close ties to Ayatollah’s vehemently anti-American Shiite theocracy in Iran. Al-Maliki made sure the U.S. didn’t get al-Sadr, sheltering him in Iran for over five years. Winning Iraq’s May 12 parliamentary elections with a low voter turn out, al-Sadr becomes the most powerful voice in Iraq, still battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. Since Saddam was toppled April 10, 2003, al-Sadr led the Shiite revolt against Sunni rule.
Like Iran, Iraq is primarily a Shiite country, whose Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf is its holiest shrine. Al-Sadr comes from a long line of Shiite clerics in Najaf, making him all the more popular with Iraq’s Shiite majority. When Iran talks of defending Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, Sunni Islam’s third holiest shrine, its completely disingenuous, considering the bloody history Shiites faced from Sunni Islam. Al-Sadr’s father Sadeq was slaughtered by Sunni militants, aligned with ISIS and Al-Qaeda–Osama bin Laden’s terror group led by Ayman al-Zawahri, once Bin Laden’s No. 2 man. Al-Sadr finds himself saving Iraq from a determined Sunni insurgency, seeking to topple Iraq’s Shiite government. Winning Iraq’s May 12 parliamentary elections leaves al-Sadr in the perfect place to eventually lead Iraq’s government, regardless of atrocious violence against the U.S. military.
Whether the U.S admits it or not, al-Sadr’s rise to power gives Iran an leg up in controlling Iraqi politics. Once considered the biggest enemy to U.S. forces, al-Sadr has become a mainstream Iraqi politician, more popular that both the past prime ministers. Al-Sadr now controls more seats in Iraq’s parliament than any other party. While it’s unclear whether his coalition will demand he becomes the next Prime Minister. Al-Sadr appeals to Iraqis looking for a nationalist voice, working to end government corruption. Iraq’s biggest challenge gong forward involves numerous Sunni militias, including ISIS, looking to topple the Shiite government. Al-Sadr claims he opposes Iran’s influence but it’s a matter of public record that he was sheltered in Iran for five years. No U.S. government would back al-Sadr for what his al-Mahdi army did to U.S. soldiers in the Battle of Fallujah.
Rising to the top of Iraq’s political class, al-Sadr looks like a shoe in for eventual Iraqi Prime Minister. Whatever happened in Fallujah, al-Sadr’s become the strongest nationalistic force in Iraq. Advancing the Shiite majority, al-Sadr leads Iraq’s nationalistic movement for Shiite influence, despite backing Sunni rights. Whether al-Sadr’s really opposed to more Iranian influence is anyone’s guess. What’s known for sure is that al-Sadr despises U.S. meddling into Iraq’s affairs. Al-Sadr’s can’t forget Ayatollah Al-Khamenei giving him political asylum when chased out of Iraq by the U.S. military. If al-Sadr becomes the next prime minister, it will complete one of the great political comebacks of all time. What it says to the U.S. is stop meddling in Iraq’s foreign and domestic affairs. U.S. officials find Iran with growing influence in Baghdad, especially with al-Sadr in charge.
