Word: sadr
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Then al-Sadr sweeps out to his waiting convoy. "Turn your back to the mosque," a gunman orders a journalist as al-Sadr heads for his vehicle. Outsiders are not allowed to see which one he gets into. Al-Sadr's bodyguards and escorts race to their cars. One of them, a cleric in a turban and a long robe, totes a light machine gun and nods politely as he trots by. While the rest of the crowd disperses, the mosque loudspeaker system calls for blood donors...
...Sadr has experienced a remarkable shift in fortune. A couple of months ago, he was a marginal nuisance. But since launching its uprising in April, his militia has turned southern Iraq into a grinding standoff for the overwhelmingly superior coalition forces. U.S. officials say the Mahdi Army has perhaps 5,000 fighters nationwide, but last Friday there were almost that many in Kufa and nearby Najaf, 6 miles away...
...Mahdi Army's tactics are simple but effective. Hajji Ali, 38, is a former history teacher from Sadr City, al-Sadr's stronghold in Baghdad. He commands a small group of fighters in Najaf and explains how they operate. "I came with 10 men, and the commanders here gave me a part of the city to defend," he says. "When the Americans advance, we harass and retreat, fire from new positions and then retreat again. If the attacking force is too big, we call for support." In the past month, three in his unit have been killed and five injured...
...volunteer guerrillas like Ali come from all backgrounds: traders, butchers, farmers, students and a great many unemployed. Most are ready to die for al-Sadr because they say he is the only one who dares to stand up for Islam against the Americans. Al-Sadr's revered father, an uncle and two brothers were murdered by Saddam's regime. But in the past few months, al-Sadr has developed his own voice as the champion of millions of poor Shi'ites who feel dispossessed and disillusioned a year into the occupation. Since the U.S. came, says Ali, the people have...
...short distance, in the calm of the city's central Imam Ali shrine, a senior al-Sadr aide discusses the prospects for peace with the U.S. "I frankly doubt we can come to an agreement," says Sheik Faad al-Turfi. "They came here as occupiers. They kill Iraqis, rape our women and steal our riches." With an air of exhaustion, he also dismisses the claims of al-Sadr's Shi'ite critics, like Sheik Bhafer al-Qaisi, a representative of Ayatullah Sistani's who told TIME last week that al-Sadr was purposely trying to provoke an attack...