KDuesing Posted January 25, 2020 Report Share Posted January 25, 2020 Iraq protesters: ‘Sadr betrayed everyone, now serves Iran’s interests’ 55 minutes ago Lawk Ghafuri SHARE ON ADD TO FAVORITES Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr speaks in Najaf, Iraq, April 30, 2016. File photo: Haidar Hamdani / AFP Tags: Iraq Protests Related Stories Respite from the revolution at Baghdad's 'Tahrir Beach' Deadline to select new Iraq prime minister set to lapse once more Rivalry reignites between Iraqi parliament coalitions over PM nominations Iraq's top Shiite cleric urges elections to end crisis Also in Iraq Iraqi security forces clear protesters from key locations across the south 'Lets kick them out': demonstrators in Baghad speak of anger against US troops Four employees of French Christian charity missing in Baghdad Tahrir Square protesters want all foreign troops out – including Iranians A+A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s anti-government protesters on Saturday accused Muqtada al-Sadr of “betrayal” a day after the firebrand Shiite cleric withdrew his support for the movement which has occupied Baghdad’s Tahrir Square since October. On Friday morning, tens of thousands of Sadr supporters and members of Iraq’s pro-Iran parties and militias marched in Baghdad, keeping away from the long-established protest camps, to demand the expulsion of US forces. Sadr called for the “million-strong” march in response to the US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at Baghdad Airport on January 3. Later on Friday, Sadr told his supporters to leave Tahrir Square and other areas occupied by anti-government protesters and formally withdrew his support for the movement. Early on Saturday morning, Iraqi security forces launched a violent crackdown, ejecting protesters from their camps, burning their tents, and retaking several strategic bridges. Hussam, 26, who has been protesting in Tahrir Square since late October, told Rudaw that Sadr had simply used the anti-government protests to further his own and Iran’s political interests. “Sadr is busy working for Iranian interests to be achieved in Iraq by expelling US troops. He has no intention of saving the protests in Iraq if they are a threat to Iran,” Hussam said. “Sadr left one day after his so-called million person demonstration against the US and that shows that he used the protests for his interests and the interests of Iran,” he added. Sadr’s march attracted far fewer than the “million” protesters he had hoped to mobilize. Shortly after his march dispersed on Friday afternoon, Sadr released a statement confirming he was withdrawing his support for the anti-government protests, which have been ongoing since October 25. Young Iraqis took to the streets of the nation’s southern and central cities on October 1 to protest the lack of basic services, rampant corruption, and high unemployment. Following a short pause for the Shiite religious observance of Arbaeen, the protests resumed on October 25 with fresh demands for the overthrow of the post-2003 political establishment. More than 600 people have been killed and around 18,000 injured in clashes between protesters, security forces, and pro-Iran militias according to Amnesty International. Luay, 31, has been protesting in Karbala since October 26. He traveled to Baghdad on Friday to participate in Sadr’s march – a decision he now regrets. “I regret that I went all the way to Baghdad to participate in Sadr’s demonstration against the US troops, as he clearly used us for his own interests,” Luay told Rudaw English on Saturday. “Sadr betrayed everyone and now all he does is serve Iranian interests in Iraq,” he added. Now Luay fears the anti-government protests “will be finished in a bloody way”. He is surprised by Sadr’s apparent shift from Iraqi nationalist to Iran-backer. “It is weird to see Sadr is pro-Iran now, while he was the man who invented the “Iran out, out” slogans back in 2018, in [former prime minister Haider al-] Abadi’s days,” Luay said, referring to similar mass protests in the summer of that year. Following weeks of relative calm, violence again resumed in Baghdad and other southern cities where security forces used live ammunition to disperse protesters. At least 10 died in clashes last week, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, and more than a dozen in recent days. At least three protesters were killed on Saturday alone, according to AFP. In a tweet, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative to Iraq, called on Iraqi authorities to serve and protect the people and to continue implementing reforms. “Unaccountability and indecisiveness are unworthy of Iraqi hopes, courageously expressed for four months now. While death and injury tolls continue to rise, steps taken so far will remain hollow if not completed. The people must be served and protected, not violently oppressed,” Hennis-Plasschaert tweeted Saturday. https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/250120203 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southbeach Posted January 25, 2020 Report Share Posted January 25, 2020 I was hoping praying these guys would get it 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsten Posted January 25, 2020 Report Share Posted January 25, 2020 Sounds like Sadr and Maliki both need to be removed and join Soleimani to cut off the Head or the Iranian Snake trying to control Iraq. The Mullah's and those in Iran could care less about The Iranian People let alone the Iraqi People. Karsten 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDuesing Posted January 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 Yes he was saying some good stuff about corruption then went to Iran and was held there by force if I remember the article, a few weeks later he comes back acting like a Iranian lover again. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md11fr8dawg Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 Time to get the SUSHI Missile warmed up. Make that 2 missiles. Things always go better in 2s!!! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake21 Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 SCUMBAG!! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckFinley Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 29 minutes ago, Karsten said: Sounds like Sadr and Maliki both need to be removed and join Soleimani to cut off the Head or the Iranian Snake trying to control Iraq. The Mullah's and those in Iran could care less about The Iranian People let alone the Iraqi People. Karsten Now you're talking my languages. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8th ID Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 34 minutes ago, Karsten said: Sounds like Sadr and Maliki both need to be removed and join Soleimani to cut off the Head or the Iranian Snake trying to control Iraq. The Mullah's and those in Iran could care less about The Iranian People let alone the Iraqi People. Karsten I agree. However , I would like to see the Iraqi people take him out, even though I know there is a hellfire missile with his name on it. 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donziman Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 Sooner or later these iraqi people are going to realize the 5500 US troops that are mostly confined to base,are not the true threat. There are thousands of iranian militias roaming the country at free will and will attack on their leaders orders. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_Logins Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 The politics of these young protesters don't originate from the early post-war era of 2003 when Sadr and his Mahdi Army exploited Shiite solidarity. Those days are long gone. The protesters' fight for basic needs and human rights have made them immune to Sadr's political pandering. His time to exit is coming, and he's stuck between the protesters and Iran. If that means his chapter in Iraqi history ends in violence, I really don't care. And no one else should either, whether they be the families of Iraqi countrymen or American servicemen who lost their lives because of this uneducated provocateur and his unearned entitlement. Live by mob violence, die by mob violence. Good riddance. 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSM (R) Thack Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 17 minutes ago, Kenny_Logins said: The politics of these young protesters don't originate from the early post-war era of 2003 when Sadr and his Mahdi Army exploited Shiite solidarity. Those days are long gone. The protesters' fight for basic needs and human rights have made them immune to Sadr's political pandering. His time to exit is coming, and he's stuck between the protesters and Iran. If that means his chapter in Iraqi history ends in violence, I really don't care. And no one else should either, whether they be the families of Iraqi countrymen or American servicemen who lost their lives because of this uneducated provocateur and his unearned entitlement. Live by mob violence, die by mob violence. Good riddance. Hooah!!👍🇺🇸 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calijim Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 Sounds like Iran met Sadrs. price. Just another sellout mullah for the moolah. 4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rochester Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 Speaking of crooks in Iraq, Rudy Guliani says one of the biggest crooks in IRAQ.... is American: Joe Biden in Iraq. One minute forty five seconds: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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