-Since early October, Iraq's young protestors
have been calling for an end to government corruption
and to a politics born in the aftermath
of the 2003 US-led invasion.
The protests have become the largest
antiestablishment movement in Iraq's history.
At least 500 people have been killed.
Thousands more have been injured.
The Post visited Sadr City, a sprawling,
and often very poor, district of Baghdad.
It has provided foot soldiers
for many of the country's protest waves.
Two men on different sides of Iraq's political current
prepare to head out for their causes.
The anti-government protestor said
he'd been living in a tent in Tahrir Square for over 100 days.
He said he wanted an end to the dominance of clerics
and foreign powers over Iraq's politics.
The other man, a supporter of leading
Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said he was getting ready
to join a so-called million-strong march
called by Sadr against the US military presence in Iraq.
-I have been in Tahrir Square for more than 100 days.
I can't leave it.
Most of the time, I am not home.
I am in Tahrir Square.
I spend the nights there.
So sometimes I get threats online
because my role in Tahrir Square
is to report the news through a livestream or my Facebook page.
Our tent, if you've heard of it, is for those livestreaming.
-The Post met Sabah at his brother's home
because of security concerns.
-Most of the messages were threatening,
saying they knew where I lived and that they could reach me.
I should stop going to Tahrir or they will kill me.
My family was alone in the house, my wife and children.
They tried to break in to the house.
They broke the lock, but couldn't open the main door.
[Muqtada al-Sadr] is fighting a side,
and we are fighting another side.
-We demand the ousting of the occupier,
the countries who interfere in our country,
the neighboring countries and those [countries]
who have a hand in Iraq.
When the Americans came, we were hopeful that, finally,
they would change the regime, but, when they entered,
they acted like occupiers
and they killed people in cold blood
and had no respect for human rights.
They disappointed us and, until now,
their army and politicians
have done nothing good to us.
-Mizyad was accompanied by a minder.
-Actually, can I answer that question?
-No, he has to answer the question.
-I don't want my dad to go.
-Why not?
-Because I'm afraid that he might get killed or kidnapped.
Protests are bad.
I don't like them because people get killed
and kidnapped.
-Sadr City is snarled with traffic.
While the suburb and Tahrir Square are only six miles apart,
the drive often takes up to two hours.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,
some of them bused into Baghdad from across the South,
attended the million-strong march.
It was a short but vociferous show of force.
When Sadr first called the march,
Iraq's powerful Iranian-backed militias voiced their support.
The tone of the march was strictly nationalist in the end,
and there was no obvious presence of militia members.
That night, Sadr withdrew his support
for the anti-government demonstrations,
which had been bolstered, in large part,
by his supporters.
They provided security.
They stood on the front lines of clashes
against the security forces.
His statement marked a dramatic U-turn.
When The Post went to Tahrir Square the following day,
the mood was tense and uneasy.
Some protestors had left the square in tears.
Security forces moved into the nearby Khulani Square.
They fired tear gas and bullets as protestors ran.
-Where is the ambulance?
-Police burnt tents as they passed by.
-They took my phone, the scoundrel.
-It's okay.
You have all the people's support.
You stood against him; you stood against him.
That is enough!
You didn't run or retreat.
Your ardor and your courageousness
is what stood up to him.
I salute you.
-[The security force officer] choked me like this.
I swear I'm staying here.
I'll get more tents.
-But worries by some that the months-long protest would end
as Sadr pulled out supporters turned out to be premature.
Hour by hour, more people turned out,
some seemingly for the first time.
Burnt tents were replaced with new ones.
And, while the crowds have shrunk considerably
since they first began, the people staying there said
their resolve had only strengthened.