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SADR’S SLUMP….The latest from Baghdad:

More than 10,000 supporters of the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad’s Firdos Square on Friday to protest the Iraqi government plan to sign a security agreement which would maintain American troops in the country for up to three years. With powerful symbolism, demonstrators hanged an effigy of President Bush from the plinth that once supported the statue of Saddam Hussein that was toppled after Baghdad fell to U.S. troops on April 9, 2003.

Hmmm. Am I the only one who thinks 10,000 is a pretty puny turnout for one of Sadr’s protests? Didn’t he used to brag about turning out crowds of nearly a million? Symbolism is nice, but a few hundred thousand marchers would have been a much more impressive show.

Based on this, I predict that the SOFA will pass parliament shortly. You heard it here first.

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