Iraq: Say It Loud. Improvise. Keep ’Em Guessing.

04/22/2007

By EDWARD WONG
NY Times
Published: April 22, 2007


(BAGHDAD, Iraq) -- MOKTADA AL-SADR’S power is felt from Baghdad to the Beltway even when he has vanished from sight.

For the last month, from a secret location, the young Shiite cleric has fanned the flames of Iraqi nationalism and anti-American sentiment, a sure path to popularity in his frightened, frustrated land.

He organized a protest that drew tens of thousands of people to the Shiite holy city of Najaf to demand an end to the American military presence. They burned American flags and chanted, “Death to America!” Then, last week, he withdrew his six cabinet ministers from the government, complaining that it was not doing enough to rid the country of the Americans.

But press his aides for concrete details of a timetable to present to the Americans, and the picture becomes murkier. They say they want the Americans out. But not just yet.

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