The death toll in Iraq’s broad anti-regime protests, and the subsequent violent crackdown by security forces, has risen to 29 killed, with untold hundreds of others wounded across at least eight cities since Friday.
The Maliki government reacted to the protests, which they blamed on supports of long-dead Saddam Hussein, with mass detentions of leaders and journalists, and one of the detained journalists, Hussan al-Ssairi, who detailed the beatings and threats of execution in custody, slammed the move as “a picture of the new democracy in Iraq.”
Indeed, while Iraq saw comparatively free elections last year, it was not lost on many that Prime Minister Maliki’s party clearly lost the election, and yet he not only retained power but increased his power dramatically.
Protesters are complaining chiefly about the corruption and the government’s inability to provide even basic services to the people nearly eight years into the US occupation. Maliki has ordered the cabinet to “eliminate corruption” in the next 100 days or says he will fire them all. Since he already holds virtually every powerful cabinet position the threat is likely to be seen as another excuse for him to centralize power.
It makes no difference when 29 persons dies as this regime is playing in the hands of occupiers who have alraedy killed more than 0ne million Irakis.
History tells that Arabs can turn any time and through out the regime. Naturally there is no doubt that Saddam build the country and Maliki destroyed the whole infra structure because he let himself to play in the hands of america.
They hate us because of our freedom. It is amazing how they cry in other lands about the civilians getting killed but not a word on the dead in iraq or the occupied lands in Palestine. It is interest how they cry that they are just supports of Saddam. Are they saying the people of Iraq liked it better under Saddam than what they got from the Gulf war of 2002?
The Maliki government is saying they are liking it when Saddam was there. didnt you read ? it says they are blaming it on people supporting Saddam. I can see why they would say this for the fact that if somebody does not like the Maliki government its easy to say they liked Saddam. How is it that if you dislike Maliki you like Saddam ? only the Maliki government would say such at thing.
Now people in Middle East and all over the world are up and doing what the people in EU or US needs to be doing.., freeing themselves from falsified democracy or social democracy and etc. tyrant and dictators, freeing themselves from what has been benefiting US and EU for to many years, freeing themselves from what they always wanted., peace and prosperity from the people, for the people and by the people without any help from those who supported the dictatorial regimes in their country for so many years.., Tony Blair are you listening to peoples voice.