Muqtada

It's not looking good for Iraq's prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. Despite a large number of fatalities, the protests appear to be growing larger. According to Alissa Rubin, Baghdad bureau chief of The New York Times, in "Iraqi Antigovernment Protests Grow, Part Battle Lines and Carnival":

On Monday, the street running into Tahrir Square, Baghdad’s main gathering place and the entryway to a bridge leading to the Green Zone, was packed with people, food carts and trucks blasting music, as well as protesters beating a traditional drum.

Much of the protest had a festive air: People danced, some men took their shirts off, others wore hats made of the Iraqi flag, and at tea carts vendors handed out cups of sweet tea and sandwiches. Closer to the Green Zone, the demonstration was more of a battle, as security forces fired tear gas and clashed with protesters.

[snip] 

The government’s response in recent days has been more moderate than when the protests began in the first week of October. At that time, the security forces used live fire to drive back those who tried to enter Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone. Nationwide, over the first five days, 157 people were killed, including eight members of the security forces, according to a government report.

A two-week hiatus in protests followed those clashes, and the demonstrators appeared to organize in the calm. The protests resumed on Oct. 25.

Meanwhile, Moktada al-Sadr, a nationalist Shiite cleric, has been stoking the antigovernment sentiment of the protesters, calling for new elections and for Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to step down.

Mr. al-Sadr is the only leader of a Shiite political party urging his followers to protest; most of the others, some of whom have ties to Iran, are firmly in the government camp. But Mr. al-Sadr, who has pushed to rid Iraq of both American and Iranian influence, has repeatedly spoken out against corruption, garnering him greater credibility with the demonstrators than some of his peers.

It's when an uprising becomes Mardi Gras that authorities need to worry. A Mardi Gras draws in the broad public, unlike a purely political march or police street fight.  The government is obviously scared, agreeing to toss a few gumdrops in the form of dissolving provincial councils and reducing salaries of top officials.

Neither the United States nor Iran want to see this uprising continue. One doesn't want to see more bloodshed, but at the same time it would be wonderful to see a reboot of the Arab Spring. That Muqtada al-Sadr is playing a leadership role is encouraging. It means that there is a formidable combatant in the arena; a champion, not a cutout.