Heavy protests continued in Iraq on Thursday, and reports that officials
planned a major crackdown seemed to be coming to pass in at least some
areas, with police setting fire to protest camps in the city of Basra, and using live ammunition to shoot protesters.
This is hardly the first time the government has tried live ammunition
in an attempt to end protests, and as usual, it seems to have only led
to the protesters showing up in greater numbers. Even in Basra, where
most of the violence was, demonstrators again were able to close the
port.
With major protests pretty much everywhere in Iraq every day, and the
only major port closed recently, Iraqi officials are warning of economic
woes if the unrest continues. Of course, if Iraqi officials had
delivered on promises of reform that ended the first round of protests,
there likely never would’ve been a second round, nor another failed
attempt to get around reforms with violent crackdowns.
Fridays are almost always the biggest protests in Iraq in any given
week, and that looks likely to be the same again this time. It is likely
that top clerics will be offering sermons very critical of the
crackdowns as well during Friday, in keeping with past calls for
restraint.
Iraqi Riot Police Torch Protest Sites, Shoot Demonstrators
Protesters shot while trying to block Basra port
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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