October 10th, Iraq held elections. The western press immediately proclaimed Moqtada al-Sadr a ''kingmaker.'' He'd never been one before and nothing in his past or present indicated he could become one now. The October Revolution? They had no use for Moqtada. He tried to ride their popularity and then tried to control them. The young Shi'ites that made up the revolution rejected the cult leader and he began verbally attacking them. He trashed them, for among other things, allowing males and females to protest together. This led to the young people mocking him even more. The 2021 election saw his turnout fall significantly indicating that Sadr City still being a slum after all these years of 'leadership' from Moqtada was leading to more losses.
Eight months ago, the western press -- especially the MSM in the US -- was proclaiming him a "kingmaker." At what point are they going to admit that they were wrong?
Never, of course.
But right now would be the time to do so.
Iraqi lawmakers from firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc resigned on Sunday, the parliamentary speaker said, a move ostensibly designed to end eight months of political paralysis.
“We have reluctantly accepted the requests of our brothers and sisters, representatives of the al-Sadr bloc, to resign,” parliament’s speaker Mohammed al-Halboussi said on Twitter after receiving resignation letters from the 73 lawmakers.
He was never a kingmaker.