Shiia are a majority there
Previously you mentioned Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
and I neglected to reply to this specific matter.
The truth is, the Iranian-backed Shiite militias are no less calloused and inhumane than their Islamic State rivals. The two share equally revolutionary goals for the nation of Iraq. Both are seeking to
control the nation as part of an Islamic superstate—one wants it Sunni and one wants it Shiite.
Both are willing to walk over civilian corpses to achieve it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muqtada_al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr gained popularity in Iraq following the toppling of the Saddam
government by the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Al-Sadr has on occasion stated that
he wishes to create an "Islamic democracy".
Al-Sadr commands strong support (especially in the Sadr City district in Baghdad, formerly named
Saddam City but renamed after the elder al-Sadr). After the fall of the Saddam government in 2003,
Muqtada al-Sadr organized thousands of his supporters into a political movement, which includes a
military wing known as the Jaysh al-Mahdi or Mahdi Army).[9]
The name refers to the Mahdi, a long-since disappeared Imam who is believed by
Shi'a Muslims to be due to reappear when the end of time approaches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule
for five, seven, nine, or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations)[1][2]
before the Day of Judgement (yawm al-qiyamah, literally, the Day of Resurrection)[3]
and will rid the world of evil.[4]
Mahdi Army
This group has periodically engaged in violent conflict with the United States and other
Coalition forces, while the larger Sadrist movement has formed its own religious courts,
and organized social services, law enforcement, and prisons in areas under its control[10]
His strongest support comes from the class of dispossessed Shi'a, like in the Sadr City area
of Baghdad. Many Iraqi supporters see in him a symbol of resistance to foreign occupation.[11]
The Mahdi army operated deaths squads that frequently killed Sunni civilians
particularly during the civil war phase of the Iraq war.
-
October 4, 2010
The radical Sadrist bloc has thrown its weight behind the current prime minister.
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7525.8.0.0/world/government/iraq-moves-closer-to-forming-
government
The National Review Online says that the Sadrists’ support of Maliki puts him on the verge of
forming a governing coalition, which would be “close to the worst possible outcome of the Iraqi
election and the aftermath.”
Sadr is the anti-U.S. cleric who only a few years ago led the bloody uprisings against American
forces and was responsible for some of the worst violence in Iraq. Whether radical outlaw or
political kingmaker, Sadr—under the guidance of Iran—has always had as his goal the expulsion
of U.S. troops and influence from Iraq.
He granted his first major Western television interview to Bob Simon of
60 Minutes, in which al-Sadr famously said "Saddam was the little serpent,
but America is the big serpent.
-
Last year, the firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
called for his supporters to kill American troops.
U.S. Military: At least 80K Iranian-Backed Shiite Fighters Are in Iraq - Breitbart-
troops-iraq/
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May 2016 Iraq’s Volatile Parliamentary Reform
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/13867.2.0.0/middle-east/iraqs-volatile-parliamentary-reform
In the early days of the 21st century, Sadr was known as a violent extremist. He commanded a
private force called the Mahdi Army. This 50,000-strong militia roamed the streets of Baghdad,
murdering Sunnis and those who had been a part of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The civil war that
raged between the Sunnis and Shiites was largely the result of Sadr’s Mahdi Army running rampant.
There is little wonder why many call Sadr the most dangerous man in Iraq. His political backflips
ensure nobody knows which way he will head next. And the Iraq of today allows him to get away
with it. Deutsche Welle reported:
Iraq still has no government. At a time when the soul of the citizenry is boiling with anger over
rampant corruption, the war on terror is robbing the country of its last resources. Oil prices are
in free fall and seem to be dragging the economy into the abyss along with them.
The time seems ripe for demagogues.
But if there has been one constant in Sadr’s life—one thing that will keep him close to the Shiite
populace and distant from the minorities, the one trait that keeps him inexorably tied to Iran—
it is his religious beliefs, A Shiite at Heart
Basically Sadr supported Maliki, then he didn’t. Then he supported Iran, then he couldn’t.
He was a radical hard-liner, then he wasn’t. He promised to leave politics, then he wouldn’t.
Now he supports Abadi.
Al-Monitor published an article calling Sadr the chameleon of Iraqi politics. It pointed out the
Sadrist movement’s hypocrisy. “Ironically, the Sadrist movement was a main participant in corrup-
tion and a contributor in the failures that Sadr’s followers were demonstrating against with other
protesters—he was part of the government while concurrently opposing said government,” it said.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ori...hiite-leader-muqtada-al-sadr-protests-demands-
reform.html
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Retaking Fallujah
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/13945.19.0.0/world/terrorism/retaking-fallujah
Not only do the citizens of Fallujah have to fear their Islamic State captors
but also the incoming liberators.
The well-known brutality of the Iranian-backed Shiite militias is now descending on the city of
Fallujah and its remaining 50,000 residents. The government-sanctioned Popular Mobilization
Force that tortured the residents of Tikrit and murdered civilians in mass revenge killings is
now on Fallujah’s doorstep.
-
August 12th, 2016
Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian general who commands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Quds
Force and has been linked to the death of nearly 500 Americans, is now on the ground in Iraq
ahead of an upcoming offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, reports the Long
War Journal.
Qassem Soleimani to play “major role” in Mosul operations | FDD's Long War Journal-
operations.php
-
the Iraqi chameleon and his Iranian allies will continue to work toward a strong
Shiite-dominated Iraq and the rise of the new Middle East power, the king of the south.
Iran wants political control, and the promotion of Shiite interests, both at home and abroad.
Regardless of what he says or who he allegedly supports, Sadr’s religious beliefs define him.
He may change his political colors every other week, he may change his public image to boost
his popularity, but his Shiite upbringing leads to an inevitable conclusion: At the end of the day,
Sadr must support Iran.
Iran has nothing to lose by seeing Sadr get his way. Even if he supports a technocratic govern-
ment, Sadr has shown himself time and again to be pro-Iranian—though he may claim otherwise.
If a technocratic government is successfully installed, it will undoubtedly be vetted by Sadr—
the real power in the nation. This could finally bring a stable pro-Shiite government to Iraq—
something that Iran has striven for throughout the last decade.
If it fails and the nation descends to squabbling again, then Iran loses nothing. The nation’s
political system is already in shambles. If anything, a descent into 2006–2007-style chaos may
afford Iran more opportunity to increase its influence.
Whether a technocratic government is elected or not, the Iraqi chameleon and his Iranian
allies will continue to work toward a strong Shiite-dominated Iraq and the rise of the
new Middle East power, the king of the south.
-
25 Jan 2017- Shiite Iraqi Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr: U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem ‘A Declaration of War’
Muqtada al-Sadr: U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem 'A Declaration of War'-
declaration-war-islam/
Relocating the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would amount to a
“declaration of war against Islam” that would require the formation of an armed group to liberate
the holy city, said prominent Shiite Iraqi cleric and powerful militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a break with previous administrations, has vowed
to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American embassy there
Sadr called for the “formation of a special division to liberate Jerusalem were the decision
to be implemented” and urged the Cairo-based Arab League, as well as the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation, the world’s leading pan-Islamic body, to either take decisive action on
the issue or disband themselves.
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Muqtada al-Sadr’s return
■Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wants to reshuffle his endemically corrupt cabinet
in Baghdad. But so does the radical Muqtada al-Sadr.
■Unlike Prime Minister Abadi, Sadr wants a complete overhaul of the Iraqi parliament
and the quota system of its power-sharing government. This will benefit the Shiites—
and Sadr is a Shiite cleric and militant leader.
■During the early years of the Iraqi War, Sadr’s Mahdi Army terrorized coalition forces.
And when he got into trouble with the United States, his supporters in Iran provided him refuge.
■Now he’s back, and his political clout appears stronger than ever.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-05-04/can-a-demagogue-help-save-iraq-s-democracy