Obama Visit a "Violation of Iraq's Sovereignty"
Sadrist Statement, on the Eve of Mass March
Photo: Daniel W. Smith
From an Anti-American Protest in November
BAGHDAD - Just as tens of thousands of followers of Moqtada al-Sadr (and apparently many others) are preparing for mass protests to mark the sixth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad and to continue protesting the US presence in Iraq, a new statement comes from the Sadrists,...
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Six years on, huge protest marks Baghdad's fall
09 Apr 2009 08:50:33 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Refiles to insert dropped word in paragraph 7)
BAGHDAD, April 9 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of followers of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr thronged Baghdad on Thursday to mark the sixth anniversary of the city's fall to U.S. troops, and to demand they leave immediately.
"Down, down USA," the demonstrators chanted as a Ali al-Marwani, a Sadrist official, denounced the U.S. occupation of Iraq that began with the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003, and the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square.
The crowds of Sadr supporters stretched from the giant Sadr City slum in northeast Baghdad to the square around 5 km (3 miles) away, where protesters burned an effigy featuring the face of former U.S. President George W. Bush, who ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and also the face of Saddam.
Shi'ites were brutally persecuted under Saddam's rule.
"God, unite us, return our riches, free the prisoners from the prisons, return sovereignty to our country ... make our country free from the occupier, and prevent the occupier from stealing our oil," Sadr said in a message read by a Sadr movement aide Asaad al-Nassiri.
"God, make us the liberators of our land," the message said before exhorting the demonstrators to shake hands with each other and Iraqi police overseeing the march.
President Barack Obama, who flew into Baghdad on an unannounced visit on Tuesday, has ordered all U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq by the end of August 2010, leaving a residual force of 35,000-50,000 trainers, advisers and logistics personnel.
Under a bilateral security agreement signed with Bush, all U.S. troops must withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Sadr, scion of one of Iraq's great Shi'ite religious dynasties, is believed to be in Iran studying religious jurisprudence.
His Mehdi Army fighters fought pitched battles against U.S. forces during the bloody aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion but have retreated from the frontlines after Sadr called on them to abandon armed combat and turn themselves into a social welfare organisation.
The Sadr movement suffered a setback when Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered U.S.-backed Iraqi troops to crack down on its militia fighters in the southern oil hub of Basra and in Baghdad last year. (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
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On April 9th 2003, Baghdad fell to the uncivilised American barbarians. It was in AD 1258 Baghdad fell for the first time to the uncivilised Moguls when thousands were killed including its Caliph and scientists coupled with a large destruction of the infrastructure, the schools, and the grand palaces and of burning or throwing the millions of books into the Tigris River.
Similarly, the uncivilised American cowboys led an army from 49 nations to destroy Baghdad and to kill its people and scientists on behalf of Israel. After six years of brutal military occupation Iraq infrastructure was destroyed, its antiquities and wealth were robbed, people were divided on ethnic or religious lines, corruption is rampant while car bombs continue to kill or maim those who escape the American guns and prisons. Besides the 165000 US military personnel the Americans have hired close to 180000 mercenaries, mostly criminals, recruited from 28 countries including death squads and dirty work forces . Naturally, we are having a democratically-elected client regime to manage and to protect the occupation and the occupiers, albeit being imprisoned inside the Green Zone. The majority of the die-hard and fearless Iraqis are rejecting the occupation each in his own capacity. Some may demonstrate or spit at the American tanks others place bombs or snipe from far away. Obama change of plans to withdraw US troops within 16 months as promised and his embrace of Bush suspicious security agreement with Al-Maliki means more trouble for everyone. The war on Iraq may have cost the Americans $one trillion, but the delay in leaving may equally be very costly.
On the sixth anniversay of the shameful fall of Baghdad, the Iraqis can pride themselves for the fact that no American can sit in an Iraqi café and enjoy a drink.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
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On anniversary of Saddam's fall, Iraqi protesters vent against US
Tens of thousands of Sadr’s Shiite supporters expressed solidarity with Iraqi security forces while demanding an end to the US occupation.
By Jane Arraf | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the April 9, 2009 edition
Reporter Jane Arraf discusses a sense of apprehension felt by Iraqis since Saddam Hussein's removal.
Baghdad - Tens of thousands of Iraqis crowded into the square Thursday where Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled, along with his regime, six years ago. Waving posters of Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr and demanding that President Obama fulfill his promise to withdraw US troops, their presence underscored the eagerness of many Iraqis to see the US leave – but also their apprehension about what comes next, especially after a week of bombings that have marred months of relative calm.
The demonstrators in Firdos Square were mostly young men, jubilant despite the pouring rain. Halfway up the decaying green concrete sculpture that replaced the towering image of Saddam Hussein, high school student Karar Abdul Hussein, himself symbolic of the new Iraq, clambered up to get a better view and wave an Iraqi flag.
"We were so happy when they brought down the statue, but now we want the occupation to end. The Americans are very tough against the Iraqis," he says after being persuaded to climb back down and talk.
Despite the recent bomb attacks, security has improved dramatically since Iraq pulled back from all-out civil war two years ago. For most people, a lack of jobs and essential services, including water and electricity, are now their main concerns. The drop in oil revenue has prompted major budget cuts by the Iraqi government, and long-overdue laws to share oil revenue and power have been stalled by political power struggles and a dead-locked Parliament.
At the age of 20, Mr. Abdul Hussein is working in a restaurant while finishing high school. His father, a member of Mr. Sadr's militant Mahdi Army, has been in detention since being arrested by US forces three years ago. The local Sadr office supports the family by paying them about $65 a month – more than the Iraqi government does for them.
"This is not democracy," says Nahab Nehme, a hospital worker, holding one end of a pro-Sadr banner. "When America came, they didn't do anything for Iraq – they moved Saddam out, but he was their servant, and the people who are in power now are their servants, too."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last year sent the Iraqi Army into Basra to fight Shiite militias, including the Mahdi Army, in what was seen as a turning point in both the Shiite prime minister's political forces and in security in the south of Iraq.
Sadr, whose forces rose up against US troops in 2004 in the biggest challenge they'd faced since the beginning of the war, waxes and wanes as a military leader, but remains a key political player. He is believed to be engaged in religious studies in Iran and is rarely seen in public these days. But an aide read a statement from him on the sixth anniversary of the regime's toppling, describing the American presence here as a "crime against all Iraqis."
"We demand that President Obama stand with the Iraqi people by ending the occupation to fulfill his promises he made to the world," Ali al-Marwani told the crowd.
"No, no to America; no, no to Israel," the demonstrators chanted, an echo of protests organized by Saddam Hussein before the war. Supporters also burned an effigy of former president George W. Bush.
"God unite us, return our riches, free the prisoners from the prisons, return sovereignty to our country ... free our country from the occupier, and prevent the occupier from stealing our oil," read Sadr's message.
He ended by asking demonstrators to shake hands with each other and the Iraqi police who helped protect them. Sadr organization guards were in charge of security at the demonstration with Iraqi police ringing the outside and Iraqi soldiers nearby.
As the rain stopped and the demonstrators flooded into the streets, hundreds lined up to shake hands and kiss the police officers on both cheeks – the traditional Arab greeting.
"The media says the Sadr movement is the enemy of the Iraqi security forces – that we attack the police and the Army – but we are brothers," says Ahmed al-Musawi, a student at the Medical Institute.
Policeman Ali Falah Ali stood in the square six years ago – a high school student at the time – when US forces put a noose around the statue of Saddam. He says he believes the growing number of Iraqi security forces can now take care of their own country.
"God willing, with the number of troops here, either this year or by next year, day after day the situation will improve," he says.
Although the anniversary in recent years has been celebrated as a public holiday, authorities said Wednesday that government offices and schools would stay open. Teachers showed up, but few children came to classes. In the commercial area of Karrada, shops were open.
"Business is good – a lot of people are renovating," says Ghanam Ghazi, overseeing painters at a new men's clothing store. He says security has generally been good, but people are worried about a spate of bombings that have killed dozens of Iraqis in Baghdad.
He and his coworker, Ahmed Thamer, say they have little faith in Obama, and want proof that US forces are leaving. The US president visited Iraq Tuesday and told Iraqi leaders and US officials that it was time to phase out America's combat role.
Mr. Thamer says that his childhood friend, Ahmed Ismael, was shot dead by US forces in 2004 when his car got in the way of an armored convoy in Baghdad.
"They're not like the Iraqi troops," he says. "The Iraqi troops – we can talk to them, we can deal with them."
Liberation Honey and Occupation Poison!
To start, with Saddam was a brutal US-made dictator. We are very happy that he had gone. But unfortunately he didn't fell in our hands but into the hands of his masters whom they abbandoned for daring to endanger USraeli interets. Our position was clear, we are in favour of toppling Saddam but not in selling Iraq. America wanted to treat us like rats sugar-coating its poison. The Iraqis are too intelligent for the US zombies. Now it is the Iraqi people resistance that will drive the Americans out; dragging behind all those traitors who helped them to destroy our beloved country. On 10.04.09, six US soldiers were killed in Iraq. Obama was right. The coming months will be very difficult.
To start with, Baghdad was the centre of knowledge. Calif Al-Mamoun invited scientists from China to Nigeria. All known knowledge was translated into Arabic. Most words start with AL are originally came from there. Algebra, Algorithims, Al-Chemie, Alcohol....etc. When Ferdinand I of spain defeated the Arabs and expelled them from Spain, they found the entire Greek mythology translated into Arabic. The mythology was lost when Alexandria library was damaged by fire. At the time, America was inhabited by the native 'Indians' and no white Anglo Saxon has set foot on it yet. Do you know that you still use the Arabic number.
After the destruction of Baghdad, the Mongols became Muslims and went to spread Islam and to build the most beatiful shrines.
