Protesters return to the streets of Sadr City, a major Shi’ite district in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, clearly unfazed by promises from the Abdul Mahdi government for reforms, and the removal of the military from the area after large numbers of civilian casualties.
Protesters continue to demand the resignation of the existing government and fresh elections, echoing the position of powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who is very influential in this area.
President Salih condemned excessive violence against protesters, and the army was ordered replaced with the police in the violent area. Abdul Mahdi announced a second series of reforms on Tuesday, hoping to offer something short of resignation that the protesters will accept.
Sadr City’s ties to politically important figures makes resolving protests there particularly important, but what started in Baghdad is a problem across the entire country. Large civilian casualties clearly fueled a lot of anger, and it’s going to take a lot to placate that.
MPs appear strongly supportive of passing all these concessions, worrying that they, too, will lose out in the event of fresh elections. A number of analysts, however, and US officials, have said they believe it may be too late to prevent early elections.
This is starting to look a lot like the “color revolution” in Ukraine. It remains to be seen what entity is hiring the snipers who are firing in all directions, just like in Maidan. Our CIA figured heavily into bankrolling that one. Who would have the most to gain from destabilizing Iraq and drawing it out of Iran’s sphere of influence?