The new and improved Muqtada As-Sadr

I could not believe the sight of Muqtada As-Sadr today.  The rally was massive: hundreds of thousands of people attended in a scene reminiscent of rallies of Party of God in Lebanon.  But what was most astonishing was the performance of As-Sadr himself.  Here was this petulant and ill-tempered man of 5 years ago who used to speak in short and hesitant sentences now appearing as a forceful and capable public speaker who knew who to handle a crowd.  It was quite remarkable how much he has grown as a public speaker.  This formerly consistently bad-tempered man now was able to sprinkle humor into the speech and to lead the crowd in a chant against the US and Israel.  When I watched the hundreds of thousands chanting in unison against US and Israel, I remembered the promises made by the London-based Iraqi puppet opposition that the "new" US-occupied Iraq would lead the country toward peace with Israel.  Fat chance.