Pro-reform protesters who took to the streets of Baghdad on Friday were in mourning over the weekend, after bloody crackdowns on the demonstrators who entered the Green Zone left at least four dead and over 100 others wounded.
Despite most of the casualties involving being shot with live ammunition, officially the Iraqi government insists only rubber bullets were used. Photos from the site of the crackdown showed dozens of bullet casings littered around the area.
Indeed, reports from around the area throughout Friday talked of a large number of gunshot wounds among the protesters, and it appears the official denial of live ammunition only came the following day, after confirmation that four people had been killed.
Officials appeared mostly unconcerned about the civilian toll of the crackdown, with Iraqi PM Hayder Abadi and US President Barack Obama both agreeing that the most important thing was tighter security in the capital to prevent the protesters getting into the Green Zone.
Iraq has been facing tens and at times hundreds of thousands of protesters weekly, demanding Abadi follow through on promised reforms. There is no sign that any of those reforms will be voted on in parliament, or indeed any sign that parliament itself will meet again any time soon.
Hmmm
What is the problem? Israel murdering Palestinian men women and children in the street using real bullets for simply being there is an everyday occurrence. Palestinian deaths are almost never mentioned by the main stream media unless they identify them as dead terrorists. Come to think of it, the media pretty calls every Palestinian a terrorist………even when a 10 year old is beaten arrested and tortured the media gives the impression it is alright. After all, everyone knows if you are a Palestinian/Muslim you must be a terrorist………
Looks like the Iraqi government is taking the side of ISIS against the people of Iraq. Watch the Madhi Army reconstitute itself and close the Green Zone once and for all if these shenanigans keep up…