[davesimondotcom]

One Post on InstaPundit

Glenn Reynolds had been wondering where the coverage of the anti-terror, pro-democracy rallies in Iraq has been. It's a good question!

For more of his comments, see InstaPundit.

[finboy]

They're supposed to be nonexistent. How dare folks celebrate liberation!

[Lerkfish]

Very interesting article (the rocky mountain news one). Very personal point of view..."this reporter" sort of thing.

If you read it in its entirety, you find it more of a balance view: good things and bad things. yes, they have a demonstration, yet still they blame americans for the hardships they presently suffer.

this is similar to what I've said: They would be happey to see Saddam gone, but will be even happier to see us gone.

[zigzag]

I saw some stuff about this via andrewsullivan.com, but wasn't sure what to make of it. I very much like the idea but there was a lingering suspicion that it was not as large as claimed and that it might have been staged - I was surprised by the number of cleanly-printed English-language placards. But this is just the skeptic in me - I would love to think that it was large and spontaneous. Even if it was staged, it's good to know that it could be done without fear of reprisal.

[thunderous_funker]

I've been reading quite a bit of coverage of pro-democracy protests in Iraq.

Iraqi Protesters Oust Appointed Governor
Demonstrators Defy U.S. Occupation With Demand for an Election

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 12, 2003; Page A39

HILLA, Iraq, Dec. 11 -- The demonstrators converged on the provincial governor's office on Sunday with banners, sleeping mats, cooking pots and a simple demand: Iskander Jawad Witwit should quit.

After three days and nights of continuous protests, Witwit did just that. But the demonstrators have refused to budge.

As soon as Witwit resigned, the local representative of the U.S. occupation authority appointed a former Iraqi air force officer as acting governor. To the protesters, that was unacceptable. The new governor, they insisted, should be chosen not by an American but by Iraqis -- through an election.

"Yes, yes for elections!" shouted the protesters, a collection of students, clerics and middle-aged professionals whose ranks swelled to more than 1,000 on Thursday. "No, no to appointment!"

The protesters have pledged to continue their sit-in outside the governor's office -- they have erected tents and dug latrines -- until their demand is met. Leaders of Hilla's largest labor unions have vowed to hold a general strike starting Saturday in support of elections.

Local leaders described the passionate but peaceful demonstration in this predominantly Shiite Muslim city as a preview of what U.S. occupiers will face if they follow through with a plan to select a provisional Iraqi government through regional caucuses instead of general elections. Although elections have become an increasingly popular rallying cry in Shiite-dominated central and southern Iraq, the protest here is the first indication that mainstream Shiites are willing to take to the streets to press the issue, adding a volatile new element to the country's impending political transition.

"It's been peaceful in Hilla until now, but if the coalition forces keep refusing what the people want, it will become a big problem that they will not be able to control," said Mohammed Kiflawi Abboud, chairman of the council that governs Hilla province. "Everyone will oppose the Americans."

[undotwa]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
Very interesting article (the rocky mountain news one). Very personal point of view..."this reporter" sort of thing.

If you read it in its entirety, you find it more of a balance view: good things and bad things. yes, they have a demonstration, yet still they blame americans for the hardships they presently suffer.

this is similar to what I've said: They would be happey to see Saddam gone, but will be even happier to see us gone.

Any article that one agrees with is balanced.

[roger_ramjet]

from the Iraqi blogger, Zeyad:

A great day for Iraq

The rallies today proved to be a major success. I didn't expect anything even close to this. It was probably the largest demonstration in Baghdad for months. It wasn't just against terrorism. It was against Arab media, against the interference of neighbouring countries, against dictatorships, against Wahhabism, against oppression, and of course against the Ba'ath and Saddam.

We started at Al-Fatih square in front of the Iraqi national theatre at 10 am. IP were all over the place. At 12 pm people started marching towards Fardus square through Karradah. All political parties represented in the GC participated. But the other parties, organizations, unions, tribal leaders, clerics, school children, college students, and typical everyday Iraqis made up most of the crowd. Al-Jazeera estimated the size of the crowd as over ten thousand people.

You can find a list of some of the parties that we noticed there at Omar's blog. At one point it struck me that our many differences as an Iraqi people meant nothing. Here we were all together shouting in different languages the same slogans "NO NO to terrorism, YES YES for peace"...

[ebuddy]

clip of Lerk's post;
this is similar to what I've said: They would be happey to see Saddam gone, but will be even happier to see us gone.

Firstly; I'm not sure I agree with the above. I've spoken to several people who are working there (i.e. military friends) and the news is very different than what you may believe. For one, there are more than 25 million people there. If they overwhelmingly didn't want us there, believe me, we wouldn't be there. In fact, we wouldn't have engaged the action this way if at all.

In one post I read where Iraqi's respect force and power and submit to it, then I hear about our attrocities there and how inhumane and illegal our occupation is. I've read too much about our accomplishments there and have been reinforced by folks I know working there to believe the info. I believe for the most part, Iraqi's want peace. For the first time in many years they are facing great change and change for the better and the US is primarily at fault. I'm proud to pay my taxes.

[Spliffdaddy]

word up.