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Iraqi Protesters Return to the Streets ‘All of Them Are Thieves’: Iraqis Defy Security Forces to Protest Corruption
(about 8 hours later)
BAGHDAD — Iraqi protesters took to the streets early Friday to resume antigovernment demonstrations that were suspended two weeks ago, after shootings by the security forces killed nearly 150 protesters nationwide, shocking the country and deepening disappointment with the government. BAGHDAD — Brushing aside their prime minister’s promises of justice and economic opportunity, Iraqi protesters defied security forces to throng Baghdad and other cities on Friday, confronting the government with perhaps its biggest challenge since the American occupation ended eight years ago.
After an investigation, the government said this week that it would prosecute more than a dozen military and police commanders who ordered or oversaw the shootings, in which eight security force members were also killed. The commanders were removed from their jobs. At least five people were reported killed in Baghdad and four elsewhere, with hundreds of protesters injured, in angry confrontations between demonstrators and security forces.
The government announced reforms, as well as the creation of new jobs and housing, but it seemed doubtful that would be enough to quell public anger over the country’s corruption, unemployment and lack of basic public services. In one confrontation, masked officers shot volleys of tear gas canisters from a bridge to the Green Zone, Baghdad’s centralized government complex, to drive back a crowd of unarmed demonstrators in Tahrir Square. Undeterred, the protesters resurged toward the bridge.
Early Friday morning, after protesters knocked down barriers and entered the Green Zone, security forces fired sound bombs and tear gas canisters in an attempt to push them back. The Green Zone houses many government offices, the prime minister’s residence, the Parliament and many embassies. The protests were a resumption of antigovernment demonstrations that started in the first week of October, but were suspended two weeks ago, after shootings by the security forces killed nearly 150 protesters nationwide, shocking the country and deepening disappointment with the government.
Even by Thursday evening, cellphone stores had boarded up their windows, money exchanges had closed and traffic was light. As protesters began to gather during the night in Tahrir Square, the site of some of the violence earlier this month, the security forces closed two of the bridges that lead into the Green Zone. Hours before the protests resumed, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, in an extraordinary post-midnight televised address, said he understood the grievances of ordinary Iraqis who have grown embittered over joblessness, endemic corruption and a lack of accountability. He promised remedies.
If, as many expect, the protests on Friday are bigger and angrier than those two weeks ago, Iraq will face an internal crisis as serious as anything it has seen since elected governments began in the post-Saddam Hussein era. But Mr. Mahdi’s words did nothing to dissuade the turnout on Friday. While it was difficult to gauge the number of protesters, there were signs that a broader spectrum of Iraqis were participating, with many middle-aged people. The bulk of the protesters appeared to be young men in their teens and 20s.
Shortly after midnight, Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mehdi addressed the nation, describing the reforms he said he was committed to seeing through, including job creation and housing projects for the poor, in an effort to respond to the criticism from millions of Iraqis. Every protester was there for his own reasons, but they shared a desperation over the government’s treatment of its people and a complete lack of trust that it can deliver any improvements.
Among his promises were the creation of a special court to deal with corruption, a more rigorous separation of the armed militias that work with the military from their political wings which are represented in Parliament, and a reduction in the salaries of senior officials. “There are no real reforms,” said Gattee Zowayer, 38. “This is just an injection to calm us down, to anesthetize the Iraqi people. We want jobs, lands for the poor people and for the people who are corrupt to be made accountable.”
Mr. Mehdi has promised changes before, and his litany of new promises raised the question of whether Iraqis would believe in his ability to fulfill them now when he had proved unable to get them to stick in the past. . After an investigation, the government said this week that it would prosecute more than a dozen military and police commanders who ordered or oversaw the shootings in early October, in which eight security force members were also killed. The commanders were removed from their jobs.
The difference is that this time, a sword of Damocles hangs over his head and that of the political elite: If the populace is not satisfied, the government could fall and Iraq could drift into chaos. The government also announced reforms, as well as the creation of new jobs and housing, but in conversations with more than a dozen protesters from different walks of life, it seemed unlikely that those promises could quell their anger. Many suggested the government is not much better than the system in place before the American-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein.
At 78 years old, Mr. Mehdi in some ways is a man with nothing to lose by pushing for the reforms, and he has long been a proponent of creating a more modern state. “My wish is to own just 50 square meters in this country, I have a disabled son and two other children, I just want to care for them,” said Ensam Tamer, 40. “Really all I want is to work and I am desperate with this government. They just make lying promises for almost 17 years. They are lying, lying and lying, now all of them are thieves.”
“We are facing a crisis in the system that the politicians did not recognize,” he said in his address early Friday morning, “but the people realized it, which explains why they have formed a movement.” The protesters included former members of the Hasht al Shabi, the largely Shiite militia that is now part of the government but is often seen as corrupt and as having factions that answer to Iran. The demonstrations also included some middle-aged women whose children had graduated from college and had skills but could not find jobs.
However, winning back public trust could take years. The confrontations began early Friday morning. After protesters knocked down barriers and entered the Green Zone, security forces fired percussion bombs and tear gas canisters in an attempt to push them back. The Green Zone houses many government offices, the prime minister’s residence, the Parliament and many embassies.
“Once people go to the streets with legitimate demands, it is too late — the trick is for the government not to adjust to the demands of the protesters, but to stop them from going to the streets ahead of time by understanding what they want,” said Abbas Kadhim, a senior fellow and the director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council. Expectations of violence were apparent Thursday evening in Baghdad, where cellphone merchants boarded their store windows, money exchanges closed and traffic diminished. As protesters began to gather in Tahrir Square, the site of some of the violence earlier this month, the security forces closed two bridges that lead into the Green Zone.
In the provinces, some protesters began setting up tents as if preparing for a long siege.
While it was difficult to project what could happen, the fury among ordinary Iraqis at perceived and real injustices made it seem that Iraq could be facing an internal crisis as serious as anything since elected governments began in the post-Saddam Hussein era.
Prime Minister Mahdi sounded as if he understood the seriousness of the moment, but it was hard to see how he could persuade people to trust that his government was capable of change.
“We are facing a crisis in the system that the politicians did not recognize,” he said in his post-midnight speech, “but the people realized it, which explains why they have formed a movement.”
Among his promises were the creation of a special court to deal with corruption, a more rigorous separation of the armed militias that work with the military from their political wings represented in Parliament, and a reduction in the salaries of senior officials.
Mr. Mahdi has promised changes before. The difference is that this time, if the populace is not satisfied, there is fear Iraq could drift into chaos.
“Once people go to the streets with legitimate demands, it is too late,” said Abbas Kadhim, a senior fellow and the director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research group.
“Once the protests start, it is a force on the street,” Mr. Kadhim added, “and most of the time the biggest beneficiaries are not the protesters, it’s anybody who has the skill to manipulate them to their own ends.”“Once the protests start, it is a force on the street,” Mr. Kadhim added, “and most of the time the biggest beneficiaries are not the protesters, it’s anybody who has the skill to manipulate them to their own ends.”
At least initially, it appeared on Friday that all sides would try to refrain from violence. For part of Friday, it appeared that all sides would try to refrain from violence. Many in the security forces wore sashes with the red, green, black and white colors of the Iraqi flag and draped flags over their trucks. The protesters, too, wore flags over their shoulders and most avoided confronting the police officers and soldiers who were on the street.
But masked, black-clad forces also appeared, shooting rounds of tear gas and percussion bombs. Some demonstrators suggested they were members of militias backed by Iran, which has been exerting increased political influence in the country.
“Look those are not Iraqi forces,” said an old man, pointing up at the Jumhuriyah bridge that leads to the Green Zone as the masked forces advanced across it. “Those are Iraqi forces,” he said pointing at a platoon of soldiers wearing the green and white camouflage of the Iraqi Army.
Members of the Iraqi forces, asked to identify the black-clad forces on the bridge, shook their heads. “Really, we don’t know who they are, they do not come from us,” one said.
About a block away, Saddoun Hashim, a retired teacher who wore wire rimmed glasses and a carefully pressed gray suit and tie, looked mournful as he ruminated about Iraq’s abundant oil wealth and storied past as part of the Middle East’s crescent of civilization.
“We are the wealthiest country in the world, but we are the poorest. This government is not from our country, it is from a neighboring country,” he said, referring to Iran’s influence.
“I am crying for my country.” he said.
The Ministry of Communication said it had received no instructions to shut down the internet, so protesters and other people were able to contact each other on Friday morning. That is in contrast to early October, when the government cut access to the internet, and then restored it, but with restricted access to social media.The Ministry of Communication said it had received no instructions to shut down the internet, so protesters and other people were able to contact each other on Friday morning. That is in contrast to early October, when the government cut access to the internet, and then restored it, but with restricted access to social media.