Thousands of young men started demonstrating in the streets of Baghdad this month. Protests against the Iraqi government keep reoccurring in recent years, as youth activists have spoken out against pervasive corruption, failed governance and economic struggles.
The leaderless and spontaneous protest movement quickly spread across the country, primarily in the Shiite-dominated areas of the south and center. While initially described as being about the economy, the protest demands are going beyond the call for functioning state services. The slogans show that protesters want radical change: “There is no homeland,” “We want a country,” and the slogan commonly heard during the Arab uprising, “The people want the fall of the regime.”
If the scale and scope of the protests have been remarkable, the violent repression of the demonstrations has been unprecedented. In less than a week, Iraqi government security forces killed more than a hundred people, and thousands were wounded. With live ammunition, machine guns, stun grenades along with tear gas, anti-riot tanks and mercenaries, the Iraqi regime is launching a war against unarmed protesters. It has also cut Internet access and imposed a curfew to try to prevent the demonstrations from spreading.
