Muqtada al-Sadr : Here 's a heartwarming winner 's circle story about a highly experienced political operator , still known in the U.S. press as the " anti-American cleric , " who just couldn 't be kept down . Sadr led an armed Shiite movement of the poor in Iraq that , in 2004 , actively fought U.S. forces to a draw in the old city of Najaf .