So what's got him smiling these days?
Maybe because for nearly 12 months now he's looked like a diplomat.
During the same time Nouri al-Maliki's come off like a tyrant and Little Saddam, when he's refused to compromise or address the needs of Iraq and Iraqis, Moqtada has often come off sounding like the voice of reason.
Setting aside any differences, last summer, he joined with the Kurds and Iraqiya (headed by Ayad Allawi) in calling for Nouri to implement the Erbil Agreement (an agreement that allowed Nouri to become prime minister in exchange for concessions from Nouri; however, Nouri used the agreement to get a second term and then trashed it). Since then, while Nouri's seemed more and more hysterical and shrill, Moqtada's come off publicly as an even-tempered, stable leader.
Moqtada al-Sadr has long wanted to be prime minister. For the US, he was always too "radical." These days, he appears less so. At the start of the year, when Iraqi youths were being targeted with violence for being or being thought to be gay or Emo, it was Nouri's Ministry of Interior that he runs and heads (don't buy the 'acting minister' nonsense -- there's no such thing legally) that was going around to schools denouncing Emos. Where was Moqtada?
He's the one who said he disagreed with Emos but that Iraqis needed to remember that you don't hurt someone because of how they dress.
Has Moqtada had a major change? We doubt it.
Maybe this is sincere. If so, we'd guess it just wasn't noticeable before. Maybe it's insincere. If so, we'd guess he's learned how to play the public image game.
Regardless, he's the one who thus far is sailing along while Nouri sinks. That's something Nouri al-Maliki might want to remember as the deadline he's been given for the Erbil Agreement dwindles.
