‘Opportunistic’ cleric is force behind Iraq’s current chaos
Muqtada al-Sadr rises again, demonstrates his clout in Baghdad
Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Muqtada al-Sadr has been an unpredictable force to reckon with — as the U.S. military and the Iraqi government have learned.
After leading a protest that stormed the Iraqi parliament, the 42-year-old Shiite cleric stands to dictate widespread changes to Iraq’s government.
Al-Sadr was able to “demonstrate that you can’t ignore him and he can pierce the corridors of power, literally,” said Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an expert on the cleric. “His objective would be to increase his own clout.”
Saturday, hundreds of al-Sadr’s followers stormed the heavily fortified Green Zone, the government center of Baghdad, and broke into parliament, sending politicians fleeing. Order was restored later that day.
The unrest raised doubts about the political stability of Iraq and occurred at a fragile moment when the government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is struggling to mount an effective counteroffensive against Islamic State forces occupying Mosul.
Al-Abadi had agreed to push for changes aimed at replacing politically connected ministers with non-partisan technocrats as a way to do away with corruption in the government.
Al-Sadr embraced these changes and demonstrated his clout in February by calling for a rally in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square that drew 100,000. Many who attended were impassioned young people angry about corruption and the chronic failure of the government to provide such basic public services as reliable electricity.
“He’s trying to position himself as a good-government advocate,” said Stephen Biddle, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. “He’s very opportunistic.”
The assault on the government center was in response to parliament’s failure to enact anti-corruption laws.
Al-Sadr’s movement is the latest incarnation for a personality that has played a leading role in Iraq since 2003. For years after the U.S.-led invasion, his Mahdi Army fought bloody engagements with U.S. troops.
Al-Sadr was born into a family of Shiite scholars, the fourth son of the Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sadaq al-Sadr, who was murdered along with two of his sons in 1999.
As Iraq’s prime minister struggles while fighting the Islamic State militants, al-Sadr has “become in some ways the most potent political player during this crisis,” Knights said.