So what has been achieved 4 years after the fall of Saddam. The Iraq economy is still in the toilet. The electricity is still at pre-war levels. Sanitation is still a problem. Oil production is down. Security remains the big problem.
A large protest occurred today in the city of Najaf organized by Muqtada al-Sadr. The exact number of protesters is not clear. What is clear is that there are some in Iraq that aren’t happy that we are still there. No surprise to me but watch the Right try and spin this into something positive.
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From WaPo:
Crowds of chanting Iraqis, some clutching stones and sandals, swarmed Firdaus Square to deliver blows to the statue. Then, with the help of an American tank and a winch, it toppled, creating one of the defining images of the U.S.-led invasion. Over one photo of Jubouri, a headline reads: “The Fall of Baghdad.”
“It achieved nothing,” he said, after he had put away the magazines.
Four years after that moment, with violence besieging the country, Jubouri is concerned with neither benchmarks nor timelines, troop strengths nor withdrawal dates. What he cares most about is security and order, of which, he said, he has seen very little. He blames Iraq’s Shiite-led government and its security forces, and wishes for a return of the era led by the man whose statue he helped tear down.
“We got rid of a tyrant and tyranny. But we were surprised that after one thief had left, another 40 replaced him,” said Jubouri, who is a Shiite Muslim. “Now, we regret that Saddam Hussein is gone, no matter how much we hated him.” (more…)
Najaf protests [1:37m]:
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Tags: Iraq by ecthompson
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