Source: SFGate
A day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested that American troops could remain here for years, tens of thousands of protesters allied with Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical anti-American Shiite cleric, flooded the streets demanding an end to the American military presence.
The protests were scheduled before Gates' comments - made Friday during a visit to troops in northern Iraq - although his statements may have fueled some of the day's fervor. The protesters were whipped up by comments drafted by al-Sadr, who sent a message to the crowd threatening to reconstitute his militia, the Mahdi Army, if the American military did not leave this year.
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