The American occupation of Iraq and the problem of Shiite activism

   Introduction. The article analyzes the reasons and prerequisites for the political activation of the struggle of the Shiites of Iraq for their rights under the American occupation during the reign of the Provisional Coalition Administration of Paul Bremer. The article studies the main activities of the American occupation authorities in 2003 and 2004 to «democratize» post-
Saddam Iraq in the political, economic and military spheres and their results, which led to an increase in anti-American sentiments among the Shiite population.

   Materials and Methods. The study is based on the analysis of sources consisting of the memoirs of the American official P. Bremer and the Iraqi politician A. Allawi, which allow a comparative analysis of the goals and objectives of the American occupation administration and their implementation, from the point of view of the Shiite community in Iraq. Analysis. An important part is the analysis of the state of the Shiite community and the struggle for influence between the leading political leaders of religious Shiites who defended different ways of development of post-Saddam Iraq on the examples of the activities of Ayatollahs Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, Abdul Majid al-Khoi and Mullah Muqtada al-Sadr.

   Results. It is concluded that the events in the spring of 2004 with the epicenter in Nejef became the highest manifestation of the intensification of the Shiite struggle for their rights in post-Saddam Iraq. The compromise reached with Muqtada al-Sadr not only brought him to the forefront of influential Iraqi politicians, but also meant the actual failure of the initial US plans to democratize Iraq according to Western patterns. With his decisive actions, Muqtada al-Sadr demonstrated the attitude of the Shiites to defend a place corresponding to their position in the future structure of Iraq, which inevitably led to an aggravation of ethno-confessional confrontation with other communities such as Sunnis and Kurds.

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