Moqtada al-Sadr: Iraq's Howard Dean
Who is this man? The mysterious Moqtada, this crazy cleric (and apparent murderer) wreaking havoc in Shiite Iraq? Well, the guy is basically the Howard Dean of Shiite politics. He's a real zealot. Below are two pictures I took while in Baghdad last May. As you can see, even back then he and his followers were whipping up anti-US setiment. What I remember is that his supporters are young, radical, zealous men -- Islamist idealists in their 20s. Now, these pictures were taken almost a year ago. So, you get a sense of how long Sadr has been working on stirring up the masses. What's happening now in Iraq is a product of a year's worth of effort.
Young Iraqis holding a pro-Sadr sign, downtown Baghdad, May 2003
Men gathering in downtown Baghdad for a pro-Sadr/anti-US occupation march, May 2003
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:00 AM