Just following the crowd....
"Small turnouts reported in marches against Jordan government; Egyptian revolt echoed by protests in other nations" by Dale Gavlak, Associated Press / February 5, 2011
AMMAN, Jordan — In Iraq, residents seizing on the Egypt protests staged two small demonstrations to protest corruption in their own security forces, rampant unemployment, and scant electricity and water supply.
People want the same things the world over!
About 100 Iraqis gathered in central Baghdad’s famous Mutanabi book market to complain about limited civil liberties and a lack of services.
Iraqi clerics warned leaders to heed public frustrations or potentially face an uprising like those in Egypt and, a month earlier, in Tunisia.
Later yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared to address those concerns, at least symbolically, saying he planned to cut in half his annual salary. He is believed to make at least $360,000 a year.
That can't sit well with starving and suffering Iraqis!
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"Iraqi prime minister won’t seek third term; Maliki also plans to take salary cut" by Liz Sly, Washington Post / February 6, 2011
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said yesterday that he would not seek a third term in office, in a sign that even Iraq’s newly installed and democratically elected government may be feeling the heat from the tumult in the streets of Cairo....
His comment coincides with an upsurge of protests across the country demanding better services, jobs, and an end to corruption, apparently inspired by the prodemocracy demonstrations underway in Cairo and those that toppled Tunisia’s long-serving president last month.
Police in Najaf broke up an attempted demonstration in support of the Egyptian people yesterday after Najaf’s governor refused to grant permission.
In another indication that the government is anxious about the fallout from Egypt, Maliki said Friday that he would cut his salary by half. He reportedly earns about $350,000 a year.
No one is calling for the overthrow of the Maliki government, which represents all the major factions chosen by voters in an election judged largely free and fair. The next election isn’t until 2014. Yeah, the
But the protests serve as a reminder that even democratically elected governments aren’t immune to popular unrest if they fail to provide jobs and services.
Is that REGISTERING with the GOD-DAMNED U.S. GOVERNMENT?
Maliki’s critics have frequently accused him of dictatorial tendencies.
See: Occupation Iraq: Maliki Drains the Marshes
Occupation Iraq: Hiring Hussein's Henchmen
Occupation Iraq: Resurrecting Saddam Hussein
Sure is acting like him.
But...
But what, MSM?!!!
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"Protesters in Iraq demand job security, improved services" by Associated Press / February 7, 2011
BAGHDAD — Protesters scuffled with riot police and marched along sewage-filled streets in demonstrations across Iraq yesterday to demand better utilities and job security from their government.
Authorities estimated several thousand protesters turned out in Baghdad, Basra, Ramadi, Mosul, and a small town in Iraq’s Diyala Province. Galvanized by popular uprisings across the Middle East, they repeated longstanding complaints about Iraq’s limited electricity, shoddy water and sewage services, and potential layoffs in government jobs.
And we told the Iraqis life would be better after we came.
“Our children have many diseases because of sewage problems and accumulated trash in the area,’’ said Ali Hassan, a resident of Boub al-Sham, where more than 1,000 protested amid stagnant pools of water and a stench of waste in the air....
Although protests in Iraq have come nowhere close to the scale or intensity of those in Egypt or Tunisia, they have unnerved government officials.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said yesterday he would increase monthly food rations for all Iraqis by about $12 and rejected the use of violence against demonstrators.
But scuffles are okay.
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