April 12, 2005
Firdos Square
In a peaceful show of strength where Saddam's statue was torn down two years ago, approximately 15,000 followers of Moqtada al-Sadr gathered in Firdos Square to demonstrate against the death of Iraqis nationwide, for the trail of Saddam to begin and for the removal of Coalition forces from Iraq. The demonstration marked a number of important milestones – For Sadr’s people it proved they could gather in an organized fashion and voice their positions in a forceful yet controlled manner. And for the Ministry of Interior, it demonstrated their capacity to prepare and execute security plans for large scale demonstrations in a dense location. Not only were checkpoints positioned, but credentials were issued and emergency medical care was administered to ill protesters – impressive. It is reasonable for Sadr’s people to want our removal from the country but I don’t think they would be able to conduct such an event if Saddam was still in power. 