Three weeks ago, Moktada al-Sadr called for demonstrations to protest the talks over a status of forces agreement between the Iraqi government and the U.S. government. Sadr called for demonstrations to take place on Fridays after Muslims attend services at the mosque (note: This is an excellent tactic–the Sadrists don’t have to round up people to attend a protest). But Sadr’s call for demonstrations has failed to draw many protesters. The U.S. military released imagery of the demonstrations which occurred the past three Fridays. The first week, the military estimated Sadr had 10,000 protesters in attendance on May 30; about 3,000 on June 6; and 1,500 today. These numbers are paltry, as Sadr City contains an estimated 2.5 million Shia, and his protests in 2006 would draw hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. The military also noted that some Iraqis in Sadr city were “coerced” to join the demonstrations. “Clearly the number of participants is decreasing,” said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Stover, the spokesman for Multinational Forces Baghdad. “The steady drop might suggest increasing support for the GoI [government of Iraq] and less support for Muqtada al Sadr.” While talks in the status of forces agreements appear to have stalled due to concerns expressed by Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, it doesn’t appear Sadr’s opposition is having much of an impact.
