Traffic clogged the capital's main thoroughfares for the first time in several days, after a vehicle ban imposed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the wake of Wednesday's suspected al-Qaida bombing of the minarets at the Askariya shrine in Samarra, north of the capital.
Lines of vehicles snaked around the block where gas stations had been shut for days, and vendors spread fresh vegetables across wooden stands in bustling wholesale markets. Packed buses motored slowly over bridges spanning the Tigris River.
Sadr has been unable to stir up much support in response:
The supporters of Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the fractured Mahdi Army, held a protest today in Sadr City, home to an estimated 2 million Shia. The protests drew "more than 2,000 eastern Baghdad residents," according to Multinational Forces Iraq, which closely monitors large gatherings. The poor turnout for today's demonstration speaks volumes about Sadr's power on the street. One year ago, Sadr drew hundreds of thousands into the streets.
Although the bombing was worrisome, I hoped that new circumstances would make direct comparisons to last year after the first bombing destroyed the shrine's dome a bad model for predictions:
We need to do far better clamping down on any civil violence than we did after the February 2006 bombing. We (the Iraqis and ourselves) have the advantage today, at least, of realizing the consequences of failing to respond quickly. And we are on the streets already.
So far, so good. Though I'm still holding on. Let's keep going after the enemy.
