It's Friday. Protesters turned out across the country including in Baghdad.
Baghdad protesters above are from this Iraqi Spring MC video. Protesters also turned out in Samarra, Baiji, Kirkuk, Falluja, Muqdadiyah, and Tamiyah.
Let's stay with Tamiyah a moment, Nouri sent his forces in to do searches and arrests. In addition, Nouri's forces instituted a crackdown preventing anyone from entering or leaving Tamiyah. Raids also took place in Baiji. At Baghdad's Abu Hanifa, Nouri's forces surrounded the mosque and prevented worshipers from entering and at least one person was beat up by Nouri's forces.
For months now, we've been explaining the way Saleh al-Mutlaq is actually seen in Iraq as opposed to the spin the western media's put out. Put out repeatedly.
When he tried to take over a Ramadi protest in December and found himself getting the heave-ho from protesters, the western media was shocked. There was no idea, even after that event, that al-Mutlaq was seen as sell out and a betrayer. But that image had taken hold by February 2012. And we noted it here. What doe these western journalists in and around Iraq do? Do they speak to anyone other than their cab drivers and bodyguards?
I have no idea. But when Tareq al-Hashemi was forced to leave the country and Saleh al-Mutlaq was suddenly bosom buddies with Nouri al-Maliki, common sense would have told you trouble was coming for al-Mutlaq on the perception front. Apparenly, western reporters forgot to pack common sense when heading to the Middle East. Yesterday afternoon and evening poeple finally began to notice that Saleh al-Mutlaq might have a people problem.
You think?
Again, we've been covering it forever. I've gotten nasty e-mails about how if it were true Musing from Iraq and other sites would be covering it. I think those sites specialize in telling you what happened three or six months ago. I don't think they really follow Iraq. They don't seem to read Arabic. They always seem to be surprised by very natural human nature responses in Iraq.
Saleh al-Mutlaq is in serious trouble now. But it started a long time ago and maybe people should focus more on covering what's happening? But events on the ground really don't seem to matter to these types who, as I recall, were over two months late in decrying the targeting of Iraq's Emo and LGBT youth. As I recall it, we'd spent two months here on that topic before our assorted 'experts' could stumble upon it. But by all means, see these people as experts because two months after a slaughter, they'll assemble quotes from two different NGO reports and tell you that's what happened.
Heaven forbid we take the time to listen to Iraqis -- I believe that was and remains the western motto when it comes to Iraq coverage. Not listening to Iraqis allowed various idiots to fool themselves into thinking that Iraq was just longing to be occupied by a foreign power. So if you really think not listening to the Iraqi people is a winning strategy, all these years later and you still haven't learned, I guess be happy in your ignorance.
Saleh al-Mutlaq's presence was felt in Ramadi today at the protest. His photo was prominently displayed. Click here and you can see a photo at Alsumaria. Note the giant red X across his face. Who are the other two?
Mohammed Tamimi (Minster of Education) and Ahmed Karbouli (Minister of Industry) who joined al-Mutlaq at the Wednesday Cabinet meeting presuming to speak for the protesters -- they don't speak for the protesters and the protesters don't approve of what was said. And it's not just Ramadi. He was denounced in Babylonian for his "false assertions." He was denounced at the Baiji protest as someone looking to increase their own stature by pretending to speak for the protesters.
Oh, look, here's Saleh al-Mutlaq in Kirkuk!
The Iraqi Spring MC photo shows a red X across his face. In the Arabic writing on the photo, he's being called a traitor to the Iraqi people.
Let's turn to violence because there's a great deal this morning.
All Iraq News notes a Kirkuk car bombing today has "resulted in killing and injuring a number of citizens,"And at first, it appeared that was it. Then it all started pouring in. All Iraq News reports 5 Baghdad bombings which have claimed 14 lives and left twenty-five injured. Alsumaria notes a Muqdadiya bombing has left 9 dead and ten injured and, on that Kirkuk bombing, they count 2 dead and thirty-five injured. In addition, police shot dead 1 suspect in Mosul, and a Baquba bombing left three police members injured.
I hope you check out Iraqi Spring MC's Flickr page regularly. I do. They are doing such a great job Tweeting the protests, posting photos, posting videos. They are getting the word out and they're doing so at a time when 'covering the protests' means reporters include a paragraph about what happened all these weeks since December 21st. It doesn't mean that they actually cover the protests. that's apparently too hard for them. Or something they're not interested in. (Yes, Nouri is using his forces to block the press from attending the protests; however, he's been doing that for months now and smart reporters would anticipate that and get to the various towns on Thursday before the crackdown kicked in and get to the protest sites before the protests started so they could cover it.)
I want to note three of Iraqi Spring MC's photos as we wind down this morning.
Look at the crowd in Falluja.
Look at the huge turnout in Baquba.
And here's a protester in Baghdad.
A community member in Ramadi has told me in e-mails that one thing I have repeatedly missed about the protests is that the wide spectrum has included the challenged/disabled. He's got a piece for Sunday's El Spirito so look for that. As the Baghdad photo demonstrates, the protests are about, for and by all Iraqis.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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