April 9th: "A Day In Which One Tyrant Fell So That Another Occupying Tyrant Could Take His Place."
On Saturday tens of thousands of Iraqis celebrated the second anniversary of Saddam Hussein's fall by marching to demand the departure of the American "liberators."
"The 9th of April," the Iraqi Islamic Party said in an official statement, "is a day in which one tyrant fell so that another occupying tyrant could take his place."
The basic message to America from the marching Muslim many: "Leave our country, you have no right to occupy us. Yankee Go Home: only we can liberate and protect ourselves. You, sir, are another in a long line of Western imperial occupiers who have brought denigrating racist streotypes and superior weaponry in order to steal our precious resources, exploit our internal divisions, crush our will, and to buttress your power against your imperial rivals."
The marchers convened in Baghdad's al-Firdos Square, where the occupiers staged the pseudo-dramatic tearing down of Saddam's statue two years ago while thousands of priceless artificats were looted from Iraq's unguarded museums.
Saturday's protestors -- much larger by the many thousands than the rag-tag rabble the US assembled in al-Firdos Square in April 2003 --- toppled effigies of Saddam, Bush, and Blair.
Meanwhile the US popular mind continues to marinate in a dangerous stew of manufactured mass ignorance about the past and present of Western and US policy in the Middle East and the historical experience of the Muslim world....and about everything else that matters. Dominant corporate media masters of Orwellian thought control and [Aldous] Huxlean culture-death work to keep the somnolent American masses too ill-informed, diverted, and infantilized to grasp the meaning of ---- and reasons for --- Iraqi resistance to Uncle's Sam's "strange liberators" (as Martin Luther King Jr. decribed the Americans in Vietnam in 1967). It's called "taking the risk out of democracy" (Alex Carey).
"Isn't it just terrible," I continue to hear one American after another say, "the way they are killing our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan when we are over there just to help them. Talk about being ungrateful."
Talk about being stupid.
But the stupidity is manufactured.
Here (below) Aljazeera's account of the march in Baghdad. US armed forces were ready to intervene "if needed".... to remind the unruly Arab masses of who possesses the actual power in "liberated" Iraq.
Aljazeera
April 9, 2005
Shia protest over US presence in Iraq
Protesters in Baghdad are denouncing the US presence
Tens of thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have marched in Baghdad to denounce the US presence in Iraq and call for a speedy trial of Saddam Hussein on the second anniversary of his overthrow.
Chanting "No, no to the occupiers", tens of thousands of young and old men gathered in the poor Shia district of Sadr City on Saturday to begin a planned peaceful march to al-Firdos Square, the central Baghdad spot where Saddam's statue was torn down two years ago.
Crowds of al-Sadr's supporters from across the country were gathered at the square by mid-morning, waving Iraqi flags and calling out: "No America! No Saddam! Yes to Islam!"
Sunni Muslims were urged by the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, an influential Sunni group, to
demonstrate to mark the fall of Saddam and to demand US forces leave Iraq.
Sunni and Shia unite
"Many of our brothers, including Sunnis, have welcomed the call and will take part," said Shaikh Abd al-Hadi al-Daraji, a spokesman for al-Sadr. "We hope it's going to be one million people strong."
Al-Daraji told Aljazeera that protesters also demanded the release of Iraqi prisoners and an end to foreign intervention in Iraq and other Arab countries.
"Iraqis can protect themselves, and those who call on US forces to stay in Iraq contradict themselves," he
said.
Protesters travelled hundreds of miles to join the rally
Followers of al-Sadr from the southern Shia cities of Basra, Amara and Nassiriya travelled hundreds of miles to join the protest, showing the appeal the young cleric can command.
The demonstration was expected to be the largest since the 30 January election and the first since the new
government began to take shape.
Al-Sadr, a low-ranking cleric in his mid-30s, oversees a force called the Mahdi Army that is thought to be
several thousand strong. He led two uprisings against US forces last year, sparking weeks of fighting.
Baghdad shutdown
Iraqi security forces shut down central Baghdad ahead of the demonstration, but were not expecting problems.
Sabah Qadhim, Interior Ministry spokesman "We're quite relaxed about it," said Sabah Qadhim, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, which is overseeing security.
"The demonstration is supporting what the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government have said they want - a trial for Saddam and the departure of US forces," he said.
"We don't think this is going to be a huge number -it's not going to be a million-man march, but we are
taking precautions as we have done over recent months."
US forces were not in evidence on the streets, but Qadhim said they could be called in to support if
needed.
Other marches were held across the country to demand that the United States set a timetable for its
withdrawal.
In the central city of Ramadi, thousands of protesters demonstrated in al-Sufayaa neighbourhood and at al-Anbar University, demanding that US-led forces set a withdrawal date.
Anti US-sentiment
"This huge gathering shows the Iraqi people have the strength and faith to protect their country and
liberate it from the occupiers," said protester 26-year-old Ahmad Abid, who sells spare car parts.
Blair, Saddam and Bush effigies were in jail jumpsuits and nooses US officials have said they will not set a
timetable for withdrawal, promising to stay until Iraqi forces are able to secure the country.
Mimicking the famous images of US soldiers and Iraqis pulling down a statue of Saddam as Baghdad fell,
protesters toppled effigies of US President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Saddam -
all dressed in red Iraqi prison jumpsuits that signified they had been condemned to death sentences.
Other effigies of Bush and Saddam were burned in the street.
"Force the occupation to leave from our country," one banner read in English.
Al-Firdos Square has become a central rallying place for Iraqis since Saddam's overthrow two years ago. US forces last year shut down the square, sealing it off with razor wire, to prevent people massing on the first anniversary.
Government formation
Al-Jafari is still selecting the new Iraqi cabinet. The protest comes as efforts are being made to complete the formation of a government nearly 10 weeks since the election. Earlier, a president and two vice-presidents were named, along with a prime minister.
But the prime minister, Shia leader Ibrahim al-Jafari, is still working on his cabinet and has said it could
take him up to two weeks before it is named.
Late on Friday, a senior al-Sadr official who had arrived from Karbala to take part in the protest was
shot and killed in the New Baghdad neighbourhood. Fadil al-Shawky died in the attack on his car. Two others were wounded.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F886ED14-806A-4D3A-A09E-57B1CF1B5B83.htm
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By Yurallnuts, Realpc at Apr 12, 2005 02:22 AM
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Re: April 9th: "A Day In Which One Tyrant Fell So That Another Occupying Tyrant Could Take His Place."
By Street, Paul at Apr 12, 2005 02:01 AM
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Re: April 9th: "A Day In Which One Tyrant Fell So That Another Occupying Tyrant Could Take His Place."
By Street, Paul at Apr 12, 2005 00:37 AM
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Re: April 9th: "A Day In Which One Tyrant Fell So That Another Occupying Tyrant Could Take His Place."
By Street, Paul at Apr 12, 2005 00:14 AM
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Re: April 9th: "A Day In Which One Tyrant Fell So That Another Occupying Tyrant Could Take His Place."
By Rekouche, Koceilah at Apr 11, 2005 23:38 PM
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Re: April 9th: "A Day In Which One Tyrant Fell So That Another Occupying Tyrant Could Take His Place."
By Bok, Yakov at Apr 11, 2005 21:18 PM
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