'During yesterday's Shia observance of Ashura, more than 5,000 protesters gathered outside the Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala to protest the policies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in advance of March elections.
According to the Washington Post, "After the US invasion, the day had been embraced by the country's Shiite majority a moment to express solidarity in their new found political power and long frustrated political freedom." Saddam Hussein so feared the power of the observance that he barred public commemoration of it under his rule.
But under Iraq's democratically elected government, troops on the street were there to prevent violence, not to confront the protesters or suppress the protest.
Moreover, the protests were not taking place to question the legitimacy of the government but its policies. Shiite leader Amar al-Hakim stated, "We can see the political money, temptations and seductions. Iraqi people don't want promises to disappear after the election. People will not obey any extortions," sounding very much like American supporters of McCain-Feingold or, ironically, earmark critic Senator Tom Coburn.
Contrast that with Iran, where Ashura sparked widespread anti-government protests. The nascent opposition, which took to the streets last summer to protested the rigged presidential elections, came out in force again, this time confronting security forces, with more protesters killed and scores arrested.'
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'The political potential of Ashura was exactly why Saddam Hussein had so feared it, according to Shakir al-Najjar, a 70-year-old poet who helped organize the protests in Karbala.
"We had believed that Maliki's government and most of the politicians were a part of us, and we used to support them, especially after they executed Saddam," he said. "But finally we discovered that they don't represent us, so we decided to protest against them for the first time on Ashura this year." '
Tyranny knows no religion.
Whatever else one thinks of GWB, this opportunity for liberty in the heart of the Middle East is his legacy.
CMAR II, I betchya the brave and noble resistance will bomb more Iraqi markets, police, and government ministries just to prove you wrong.
Nothing on the killing of 33 of your co-religionists in Karachi?
Thanks for reminding me, Anon. It seems that the sectarian violence continues in Pakistan as well.
dear CMAR II,
Thank you for your comment.My own Catalog of the Sins & Follies of Bush and Son is heavy, but when the Surrender Monkeys and political opportunists tried to snatch defeat from victory in Iraq,
GWB defied them,and sent MORE troops. I love him for that,and am proud to carry this nic.
bushtheliberator.
Looks like your buddies are still getting wasted there, 3 years after your deceased surge.
Muhannad says:
the brave and noble resistance will bomb more Iraqi markets, police, and government ministries just to prove you wrong.
It's not a government. The country is under occupation, this is just a group of collaborator thugs
Do you seriously think that if you repeat enough times that it is a "government," I'm going to forget what actually happened?
What actually happened (just a few samples):
"A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives as worshippers left a crowded Shi'ite Muslim mosque on June 20 in Taza, near Kirkuk, north of Baghdad. Victims included women and children, and the blast flattened dozens of homes nearby.
Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, put the death toll at 88."
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"Two bombs exploded within minutes of each other near a bus station south of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 10 people and wounding 110 others, according to the Iraqi authorities, adding to the rise in violence around the nation this month."
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"Three car bombs rocked Baghdad on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding 14 in the fourth wave of coordinated attacks in as many months.
An eight-day-old baby was killed and 40 people wounded, five of them children, the same day by a car bomb targeting a church and adjacent school in the main northern city of Mosul."
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"A motorcycle bomb exploded near a cafe in Baghdad's eastern district of New Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 13 others, mostly youths, police said."
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"Six bombs exploded outside Shiite mosques across Baghdad in a coordinated attack that killed at least 29 worshippers who had gathered for Friday prayers, according to Iraqi police officials."
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