From the start, the Pakistan army objected to the occupation of Kabul by the Afghan Northern Alliance, the initial domination of the government by non-Pashtuns, and the refusal of the Americans to involve Pakistan in helping rebuild the Afghan army.
Al-Sadr, widely popular in Iraq's Shiite heartland, opposes the U.S. occupation of Iraq and, during the war, his Mehdi Army militia has fought coalition and Iraqi forces.
Even some preachers loyal to the fiery Shia preacher Muqtada al-Sadr, who used to sneer at the notion of a fair vote under American occupation, have become far more pliant since he ended the uprising of his rebel Mahdi Army in the Shias' holiest city, Najaf, in August.