Photos by Daniel W. Smith

Followers of Moqtada al-Sadr led a march from Sadr City about two miles to Baghdad's Mustansiriyah Square today. Papers have reported attendance numbers from 50 thousand to 150 thousand. Many were bussed in from districts all over Iraq, which was coordinated by the Sadr office. Roads surrounding the large area were closed the night before, and hundreds of Iraqi security forces surrounded the site.

The areas you’d expect to be represented, those with wide Shi’a support for al Sadr such as Najaf, Karbala, and Basra were present, but so were others. Unity of all Iraqis against the American military in Iraq was obviously the intended theme of the day, with appearances on the main-stage by Sunni Arabs from Dora, Kurds from Kirkuk, and Christians from Mosul. Other minorities not in plain sight, such as Yezidis and Shabacks, were said to be represented as well. There was a conspicuous lack of unity within the Shia population visible, as young men with Sadr office ID badges awkwardly stood in front of large pictures on display of slain rival Shi’a cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir Hakim, to block them from sight (pictured below).

There were several speeches given, and a Sadrist Parliament member even spoke part of his in English, to drive the point home to Americans that they were against any agreement between the U.S. and Iraqi governments, currently being negotiated, that would allow U.S. troops to remain in Iraq. The crowd often chanted in unison. Intimidating and seemingly spontaneous roars of "Yes, yes, to the leader! Yes, yes, to Iraq! Iraq for us! Al-Quds (support for Islamic control of Jerusalem) for us! Baghdad stay free, and Americans go home!” rang out repeatedly.