‘All of them are thieves’: Iraqis defy security forces to protest corruption

Unconvinced by their prime minister’s promises of justice and economic opportunity, Iraqi protesters defied security forces to throng central Baghdad and other cities Friday, confronting the government with perhaps its biggest challenge since the toppling of Saddam Hussein 16 years ago.

At least eight people were reported killed in Baghdad and four elsewhere, with hundreds of protesters injured, in angry confrontations between demonstrators and security forces.

In one Baghdad confrontation, masked officers shot volleys of tear gas canisters from a bridge to the Green Zone, the seat of parliament and the prime minister, to drive back a crowd of unarmed demonstrators in Tahrir Square. Undeterred, the protesters resurged toward the bridge and were repeatedly repulsed.

The protests were a resumption of anti-government demonstrations that started in the first week of October, but suspended two weeks ago, after shootings by the security forces killed nearly 150 protesters nationwide, shocking the country and deepening disappointment with the government.

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.

But Mahdi’s words did nothing to dissuade the turnout 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 joining the bulk of the protesters who were young men in their teens and 20s.

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.

“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.”

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 government also announced reforms, including a special court to crack down on corruption, 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 no better than the system in place before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein.

“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, who works in construction whenever he can get a job. “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.”

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. Those protesting appeared to be ones who had been injured and could no longer work. The demonstrations also included some middle-aged women whose children had graduated from college and had skills but could not find jobs.

The confrontations began early Friday. 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. In addition to the many government offices, the Green Zone houses the villas of many senior officials and many embassies.

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 era.

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,” the prime minister said in his post-midnight speech, “but the people realized it, which explains why they have formed a movement.”

Among his promises was a more rigorous separation of the armed militias that work with the military from their political wings represented in parliament and a sharp reduction in the salaries of senior officials.

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 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,” 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.”

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 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. Gesturing at the bridge, he said, “those are the tail of Iran.”

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 on 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.