American forces began to establish a wall separating Sadr City from Baghdad. The Iraqi government hoped to see this wall build security by blocking the Mahdi Army.
Sadr City was originally called Saddam City during Saddam Hussein’s reign. In 2003, It was unofficially named after the Shiite cleric, Mohammed Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr. This densely populated Shiite slum neighborhood is a home base for the Mahdi army created by Muqtada al-Sadr, son of the above-mentioned cleric. In March 2008, the Iraqi army launched the first major operation to force away the Mahdi army. George Bush applauded it as sign of growing security in Iraq but the operation did not gain obvious success. Since then, the tension in Sadr City has been mounting.
(Read the background resource from History of the Middle East Database.)
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