{"id":30437,"date":"2018-05-15T20:40:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T20:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/15\/mattis-us-will-wait-and-see-on-muqtada-al-sadr-election-victory\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:51:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:51:52","slug":"mattis-us-will-wait-and-see-on-muqtada-al-sadr-election-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/15\/mattis-us-will-wait-and-see-on-muqtada-al-sadr-election-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattis: US will \u2018wait and see\u2019 on Muqtada al-Sadr election victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was cautious Tuesday when asked whether the apparent election <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/11\/iraqi-air-successes-can-mean-a-reduced-need-for-us-military-assets\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover269210\">victory of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr<\/a> \u2014 the man responsible for so many U.S. troop deaths in Iraq \u2015 angered him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of Tuesday, Sadr\u2019s Shiite bloc had secured the most votes among the three top contenders, which included current Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi, who came in third. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Iraqi people had an election, it\u2019s a democratic process at a time when many people doubted that Iraq could take charge of themselves,\u201d Mattis said. \u201cSo we will wait and see the results \u2013 the final results of the election. And we stand with the Iraqi people\u2019s decisions.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was Iraq\u2019s first major election since the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/04\/26\/mattis-foresees-re-energized-fight-against-isis-in-syria\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover923640\">fall of ISIS <\/a>last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/04\/30\/major-combat-operations-against-isis-in-iraq-have-ended-what-happens-now\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-iraq-ops-web.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Major combat operations against ISIS in Iraq have ended. What happens now?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">With the furling of a flag, top U.S. military leaders marked the \u201cend of major combat operations against ISIS in Iraq\u201d and a change to the U.S.-led coalition\u2019s mission in the country.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sadr initially came to power shortly after U.S. forces entered Iraq and called for Americans to be driven from the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis led the 1st Marine Division into Iraq in 2003, led I Marine Expeditionary Force as those Marines were on their third deployment to Anbar province in 2006 and then led U.S. Marine Forces Central Command in 2007. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1304\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636054007222881934-ap-16197329692268jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-61328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636054007222881934-ap-16197329692268jpg.jpg 1919w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636054007222881934-ap-16197329692268jpg.jpg?resize=300,204 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636054007222881934-ap-16197329692268jpg.jpg?resize=768,522 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636054007222881934-ap-16197329692268jpg.jpg?resize=1024,696 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636054007222881934-ap-16197329692268jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1044 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1919px) 100vw, 1919px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Iraq&#8217;s Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, center, speaks to his followers demonstrating at Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, July 15, 2016. Tens of thousands of supporters of the powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric have rallied in central Baghdad to press demands for reform and an end to alleged corruption in the government. (AP Photo\/Hadi Mizban)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In each post Mattis saw the costs to U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians of rising insurgency-driven and sectarian violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sadr\u2019s Mahdi Army began attacking U.S. and coalition forces in 2004 in Baghdad and Najaf and remained a significant threat through the U.S, surge in 2007-2008. The group was credited with fighting Islamic State forces in 2014. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cleric&#8217;s Mahdi Army was responsible for many of the attacks on U.S., coalition forces during the Iraq War.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,92,93,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3293],"class_list":["post-30437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"S5LYFNVTDVHCZDESFUKAM3AIL4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/15\/mattis-us-will-wait-and-see-on-muqtada-al-sadr-election-victory\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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