Saddam Hussein, who had been in power in Iraq for 24 years as a "strongman in the Middle East", was ultimately unable to resist the US attack and was overthrown and hanged.
And now, in October 2021, the preliminary vote count results in Iraq** show that the "Sadrist movement" has won the victory and won the right to form a government first, which also marks that the Saddam era has become history.
The al-Sadr family has significant influence in Iraq, not only in Iraq, but also in Islamic countries such as Iran and Lebanon.
Named after a Shiite ghetto in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq"Sadr City"As an example, the influence of the al-Sadr family among the Shiites can be seen. In addition, al-Sadr's late uncle, Mohammad Bakr al-Sadr, was also one of the most respected Shiite thinkers of the 20th century, and he was a close friend of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was also influential in Iraq**.
The al-Sadr family has a long history of opposition and struggle against the Sunni Saddam regime. His father, Sadr Sr., was the revered Grand Ayatollah of Islam and had publicly condemned the oppression of Shiites by Saddam's regime.
However, his stance and remarks led to the assassination of **, which killed him and his two sons in 1999. This tragic event further fueled anti-Saddam sentiment among the Iraqi people, and at the same time, 200 people paid with their lives for resisting the repression.
Against this backdrop, al-Sadr inherited his family's position as the Shiite religious leader and continued to lead the activities of the Shiites in Iraq. However, instead of taking an aggressive approach like his father and brother, he opted for a "hibernation" strategy, looking for an opportunity to "turn the tables in one fell swoop".
Such a decision gave al-Sadr an important place in the Iraqi political arena and became the biggest challenger to Saddam's regime.
In the turmoil of the Iraq war, al-Sadr seized the opportunity to promote his ideas, determined to "eradicate the demon Saddam". After a three-year trial, Saddam Hussein was finally sentenced to death by hanging, which he was executed on December 30, 2006.
However, his execution scene did not **leak out**, only a few vague **, in which Saddam Hussein** was on a rope, and the identity of the executioner was unknown.
Sadr confessed that he was one of the executioners of Saddam, and in interviews he proudly claimed that he had ended Saddam's life with his own hands and spat on Saddam's body.
Some have questioned that this is just one side of al-Sadr's statement, lacking evidence to back it up, and may simply be trying to get more support. However, there are also many people who believe his statement, after all, the deep feud between Sadr and Saddam, and the reputation of the al-Sadr family in Iraq, his behavior is not difficult to understand.
Saddam Hussein's assassination sparked discontent among Iraq's Sunni population, who took to the streets to express his feelings. However, the Shiite people in Iraq support Sadr, after all, there have been contradictions between the two factions for a long time, and Saddam's decades-long rule has indeed damaged the interests of some Iraqi people.
Al-Sadr's position was not directed against the Saddam regime, but against the United States and its aggression in Iraq. He began his first "Friday Sermon" at the Kufa Mosque the day after the U.S. military captured Baghdad, when he was not yet 30 years old, and although he was the successor to the Shia leader, he was seen as having little influence in the eyes of the outside world.
Even the U.S. military considers him a non-threat, and some Shiites see him as immature and impatient with the Americans.
Sadr, a staunch anti-American, led the "Sadr Movement" of thousands of people and fought to the death against the U.S. military, and his actions showed the world his determination.
To make their position known to more people, al-Sadr founded a newspaper dedicated to opposing the US-British occupation of Iraq, and also publicly supported Hamas and Allah Lebanon, which are considered terrorist organizations.
However, these moves caused discontent in the United States, which accused al-Sadr of inciting violence and even shut down his newspaper and arrested his top aides. Despite the pressure, al-Sadr stood firm in his beliefs and persevered to the end.
Al-Sadr and his supporters violently resisted these strict measures, leading to fierce clashes between US-British forces and al-Sadr's fighters, resulting in a large number of coalition forces**.
In response to this, the enraged United States immediately declared the Mahdi Army an illegal organization and repeatedly claimed to "eliminate or arrest" al-Sadr. However, the tenacious anti-American fighter al-Sadr has no fear of this, he compares the United States to a real "giant viper" and continues to fight the coalition forces in Iraq, resulting in hundreds of deaths, and the situation of the coalition forces is very serious.
In addition, al-Sadr claimed that the newly formed Iran was "illegal" and that they would continue to resist "oppression and occupation" until "death or victory."
Under al-Sadr's leadership, the Sadrist movement has continued to grow in influence and has become a political force to be reckoned with in Iraq. However, although al-Sadr was able to effectively control the Shia-dominated southern part of Iraq and parts of Baghdad during the initial occupation of Iraq by the U.S. military, al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army began to lose the trust and support of the people in 2007 due to the temporary repression in Iraq and the internal Shiite conflict.
In 2008, al-Sadr was at a low point when he disbanded his armed forces and went into "self-imposed exile" in Iran. Before leaving, the United States regarded him as a "radical anti-American religious element" and even called him "the most dangerous person in all of Iraq."
Four years later, however, when al-Sadr returned from Iran, his thinking began to soften. He even admonished his supporters to avoid the use of violence. Whatever the reason for this transformation, al-Sadr, who returned to Iraq, chose to transform the armed forces into a political organization and enter Iraq**, as if he had found a new path to realize his ambitions.
Although al-Sadr has become more moderate in his thinking, his anti-boycott stance toward the United States has been consistent. Even after returning from Iran, he still opposed U.S. interference in Iraq's internal affairs and advocated the withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Iraq.
After returning to Iraq, al-Sadr was actively involved in political and civic activities. At first, his organization, the Movement of Sadr, was dedicated to religious and social good causes, and became a representative of the poor in Iraq.
In February 2016, al-Sadr launched a massive anti-corruption demonstration in Baghdad, peacefully calling for "grassroots reforms."
At the same time, the Sadrist Movement has also vigorously promoted nationalism and pushed the model of "street politics" in Iraq to new heights.
Al-Sadr advocated the concept of "Iraq First" and was committed to anti-corruption, political reform and people's livelihood, and his ideas have won the recognition of all sectors of Iraqi society.
This was reflected in the election results, which he led in Iraq** in 2018, which won 54 of the 329 parliamentary seats.
Al-Sadr is not running for parliament, so he will not become the new prime minister. However, he has significant influence over the new ** and the candidates for prime minister.
But this was not the peak of his political career, because in the ** 4 years later, he achieved an even greater victory. In Iraq** on 11 October 2021, the Sadrist Movement added 19 seats to a total of 73 seats, initially winning**.
Under the Iraqi constitution, the Sadrist movement was given the right of first refusal.
Although the results have not yet been finalized, al-Sadr has delivered his victory speech. He said that Iraq would be reformed and a nationalist state would be established free from foreign interference.
Al-Sadr's supporters have already begun to celebrate the victory. According to analysis, al-Sadr's victory was not only due to the support of the poor Shiite population by the Sadrist movement's promise of more public services, but also because of the antipathy in Iraq to US intervention.
This is evidenced by the increasing number of anti-American demonstrations in Iraq since 2019.
Despite concerns about the future of al-Sadr and his "Sadr Movement" in power, pessimists believe that while they have won a majority in parliament, they will need to work with other parties to build a new **.
However, the political situation in Iraq is very complex, and the entanglement of interests and struggles between various political parties makes it difficult for al-Sadr to find a balance between the various factions. In addition, Iraq's socio-economic problems have brought unprecedented difficulties to their administration.
In addition, they relied on anti-US and anti-Iranian to win, and even if they succeed in forming, they may lose the support of the US and Iran. In this case, Iraq is both opposed to the United States and unwilling to join forces with Iran, which is also opposed to the United States, which could lead them to isolate themselves and cause them to suffer heavy losses in international affairs.
Voter turnout in Iraq** is at an all-time low of around 41 percent, and voters generally believe that elections will not change Iraq's political landscape, nor will they improve their lives and other social issues.
This shows that Iraqi voters are right"Sadr Movement"The outlook is not encouraging. In addition, some Iraqi political parties disputed the election results, although the turnout was not high, but they believed that there had been fraud.
Iraq's second largest political party is reported"Fatah Alliance"It has been announced that it will not recognize the current election results, and there has also been an outbreak of fraudulent activities in Baghdad, and it is still inconclusive whether the preliminary results will change.
Nevertheless, the complexity of the domestic situation in Iraq seems difficult to change. Both the Sadrist movement and other political parties will have to deal with fierce competition in the process of forming a government.
Even if the new government wants to carry out reforms, it will face interference and obstruction from domestic and international forces. As things stand, Iraq's future will be challenging, regardless of who emerges.
Al-Sadr's successful formation may make Iraq more assertive towards the United States. At present, the Iraqi parliament has passed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of US troops. If al-Sadr succeeds in forming **, he may take a more drastic attitude and means to demand the withdrawal of US troops.
So, how will the United States respond to this possible scenario? The world is looking forward to it.