Moqtada al-Sadr is among the most nationalistic of Iraqi political leaders. He is anti-American–and also anti-Iranian. The fact that Sadr is now calling for the ouster of the 5,200 U.S. soldiers in the country is more than a little significant.
Sadr is throwing his support to the pro-Iranian forces in the Iraqi parliament. Unbeknownst to most Washington pundits, Sadr controls parliament’s largest bloc and several top ministerial posts.
A representative of Sadr took to the stage at the protest site and read out a statement by the influential Shiite cleric and populist politician. It called for all foreign forces to leave Iraq, the cancellation of Iraq’s security agreements with the United States, the closure of Iraqi airspace to US military and surveillance aircraft and for Trump not to be “arrogant” when addressing Iraqi officials. “If all this is implemented, we will deal with it [the U.S.] as a non-occupying country “
Source: Thousands protest in Iraq to demand ouster of US troops
To put it another way, the assassination of General Solemani might have provided some small boost to President Trump in the United States. In Iraq, it has helped consolidate public and political support for Iran’s campaign to eject the U.S. forces from the region.
