PROTESTORS and militia fighters enraged by US air strikes on Iraq staged a violent demonstration outside the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, torching a security post and hurling stones as security forces and embassy guards hit back with stun grenades and tear gas. President Donald Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the violence and said Tehran would be held responsible.
US planes on Sunday had attacked bases belonging to an Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia – an action that risks drawing Iraq further into a proxy conflict between Washington and Tehran at a time when mass protests are challenging Iraq’s political system. The slogan ‘Death to America’ that the angry protestors raised and “Iran out of Iraq” by other demonstrators reflected the general mood in the country over unending foreign intervention that is the main cause of insecurity and instability in strife-torn Iraq. It, however, seems the United States has learnt no lesson – neither in Iraq nor in Afghanistan and insists on not just maintaining its troops but also increases their strength as per its own designs as it is doing now in Iraq where it has announced to send an additional infantry battalion. Experts say Iraq is descending into its most violent days since the battle against ISIS concluded in 2017 as demonstrations are being held for a full-on political overhaul with apprehensions that foreign interests might hijack the protests to their own advantage. Some 300 people have been killed and more than 2,000 injured as protests draw a harsh response from state security forces and other unidentified entities. Authorities have taken extreme measures like shutting down the internet and using live ammunition against protesters in an attempt to crack down on the uprising. It is regrettable that people are protesting over issues like unemployment, corruption and poor public services in a country that was otherwise rich in resources and was well on the path of progress and development before foreign invasion. Intra-Iraq dialogue is the key to the crisis but that can happen if foreign intervention ends.