Iraqis Rebel Against George W. Bush’s Fake Democracy
Despite George W. Bush’s effort to bring Democracy to Iraq, Iraqi citizens this week are rebelling against the corruption in their own Government, and poverty. Iraq had a surplus of 52.1 billion through then end of 2009, but many Iraqi citizens live in poverty.
Surrounded by hundreds of police, soldiers and rooftop snipers, with military helicopters buzzing overhead, protesters waved Iraqi flags and signs reading “Bring the Light Back” (a reference to the lack of electricity), “No to Corruption!” and “I’m a Peaceful Man.”
Many said they were protesting for the first time. Among them was Selma Mikahil, 48, who defiantly waved a single 1,000-dinar bill in the air. “I want to see if Maliki can accept that I live on this!” she yelled, referring to her pension, the equivalent of $120 every five months. “I want to see if his conscience accepts this!”
Protesters circled the square and then surged down a road toward the bridge leading to Maliki’s offices, where a row of giant concrete blast walls had been erected overnight to block them. At one point, protesters began pushing against the walls, managing to open a crevice and push through. Witnesses said a soldier shot one protester in the stomach, and people began to hurl rocks over the wall after that.
Though demonstrators mostly called for reform and an end to corruption, there were calls here and there for Maliki to step down.
Read more at; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/25/AR2011022502781.html
Related posts:
Author: Matthew Desmond
10:31 am
its kinda interesting…in a sense their democracy is more transparent than ours. At least there, the theft of public resources (money) is so obvious that it’s news. In America, people just kinda shrug their shoulders and say “at least I can still watch American Idol.”
10:50 am
If you want to change a country by influencing democracy, do not teach it to the adults, but rather teach it to the children.
10:42 am
They are missing saddam’s true democracy. Give it to them, shoot or gas them all.
7:41 pm
nice reply dumbass! i cant wait until your in the streets peniless because of george “shrub” bushes, and barack (sounds like a terrorist name to me) obamas lack of leadership – i could rant on, but i wont. your stupid greed is what put these people in the predicament that they are in today. donald rumsfeld sold saddam hussein chemical weapons, and the means to use them. but you like most americans are just too stupid to realise the actual truth. i for one cant wait until the chinese are marching down pensylvania avenue shooting at anything that looks like an inbred redneck
10:35 am
“America is an idea that is infectious.” Bono
I have posted this quote many times lately. I believe that if we just sit back and wait, most countries will eventually become some form of democracy. If we lead by example instead of by force other human beings will want their freedom and dignity too. Instead of spending tons of money on wars and losing our young people to foolishness we should be spending on developing the most excellent democracy on the face of the earth. Just a thought.