BAGHDAD, Nov. 21, 2008
Iraqi Protesters Burn Bush Effigy
Shiite Cleric's Followers Take To Baghdad Square, Decry Proposed Security Pact
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Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burn the American flag as thousands converge at Firdous Square in central Baghdad, Iraq for a mass prayer to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact on Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Khlaid Mohammed)
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A protester uses his shoe to strike an effigy of U.S. President George. W. Bush, in an expression of contempt, as thousands of followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr converged on Firdous Square in central Baghdad, Iraq for a mass prayer to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact on Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Chanting and waving flags, thousands of Muqtada al-Sadr's followers filled Firdous Square to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact that would allow American troops to stay for three more years. The Bush effigy was placed on the same pedestal where U.S. Marines toppled the ousted dictator's statue in one of the iconic images of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
After a mass prayer, demonstrators pelted the effigy with plastic water bottles and sandals. One man hit it in the face with his sandal. The effigy fell head first into the crowd and protesters jumped on it before setting it ablaze.
Before it fell, the effigy held a sign that said: "The security agreement ... shame and humiliation."
Iraq's parliament is expected to vote next week on the plan to keep U.S. forces in Iraq for another three years. But the noisy opposition by the Sadrists indicates that even if it is approved, the deal could remain divisive in a country struggling for reconciliation.
Opponents view the security deal as a surrender to U.S. interests despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, saying the pact would eventually lead to full sovereignty.
Al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, was not at the protest, though he wrote a sermon read by his representative, Sheik Abdul Hadi al-Mohammadawi, calling the U.S. "the enemy of Islam."
"The government must know that it is the people who help it in the good and the bad times. If it throws the occupier out all the Iraqi people will stand by it," the sermon read, using common rhetoric for the United States.
Al-Sadr reiterated in the sermon that his followers in both the armed and the peaceful factions of his movement will continue to work for the removal of U.S. forces.
Security was tight for the demonstration, with the area closed to traffic and heavily guarded by Iraqi soldiers in Humvees. Army snipers took positions on top of buildings overlooking the square. The Sadrists also provided their own security, searching worshippers as they approached the square.
The protesters included two Sunni clerics. Many arrived at the square on foot or by bus and carried prayer rugs, pieces of cardboard or newspapers for the mass prayer.
They waved Iraqi flags and green Shiite banners, chanting, "No, no to the American agreement!" and, "No, no to the agreement of humiliation!"
The Cabinet has approved the agreement, meaning it stands a good chance of passage in the 275-seat parliament where the government's parties dominate. But for al-Maliki's Dawa party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, its senior government partner, the margin of support is almost as important as the victory itself. A narrow vote for approval will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the new terms governing the U.S. troop presence.
Al-Sadr's followers and other legislators opposed to the pact also try to could use the narrow vote to turn their anti-American message into a defining issue in provincial elections on Jan. 31 and general elections late in 2009.
If the agreement passes the legislature, it will go to the president and his two deputies for ratification. Each one has veto power.
In Related News:
A statement says Multi-National Division - Center soldier died Thursday but gives no other details. The brief statement doesn't give a location but Multi-National Division - Center soldiers operate in areas south of Baghdad.
As of Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008, at least 4,201 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
"This guy was finally held accountable for what he's done, and I think I'm happy about that because we're all held accountable," Keith Maupin, the soldier's father said. "They told me they killed him on Veterans Day. Ain't that appropriate."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 63 CommentsReally? Ask the women. Ask the prisoners. Ask all those thousands who have lost loved-ones. Maybe freedom really is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posted by leeanna58 at 10:20 AM : Nov 21, 2008
That is true he may never feel it but what about others or they don''t count in your book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Y_ncOVlDw
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Posted by krescera at 10:40 AM
So they should be grateful, right? If the US had a bad president and Russia came to remove him for the benefit of the population, you would be grateful too, right?
Riding high in April, shot down in May.
Wow! Bush`s secret service detail is gonna be busier than a one-legged man in an asskicking contest.
It would actually be safer for him in the future to be in prison in the Hague.
Posted by tj217 at 11:38 AM : Nov 21, 2008
From what Obama has been saying since he was elected, that could be awhile.
Posted by tj217
AGREE!!! And anyone complicit in his evil plan!!
liberalme, how many of your beloved Dems were "complicit in this evil plan"? You ignoranrt leftwing ingrates love to bash America. you state all the time how evil America is while giving the TRUE bad guys the free ride. Now that the libs are in power it will be interesting to here if the America bashing by the left will continue. Reality will have ot set in eventually for even people like you.
Posted by notblue
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Suck it up red-neck, suck it up.
After 8 years of abuse from your looney thug ridden party, enjoy at least 12 years of left-wing rule.
Loser.
Iraqi troops donate money to US wildfire victims
The Associated Press
6:10 a.m. November 21, 2008
BAGHDAD %u2014 The U.S. military says a group of Iraqi soldiers has donated $500 to help California wildfire victims.
Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil at the Besmaya range complex south of Baghdad says his troops want to send a message to the American people with the donation that "we are a family."
A handful of wildfires raged through Southern California earlier this month. The blazes damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes.
The military says it''s the fourth donation sent by the Iraqis to Americans hit by tragedy. Thursday''s statement says they also raised $1,500 for victims of hurricanes Gustav and Ike and donated $500 to the National Sept. 11 Memorial
AGREE!!! And anyone complicit in his evil plan!!
Posted by liberalme at 11:46 AM : Nov 21, 2008
Would that include all the Democrats & Repubs in Congress & Senators that voted to go to war in Iraq? That would wipe out about 80% of the current elected officials in Washington. Since both parties are complicit, that sure would free up the parking spaces around DC.
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Posted by DeckardBR at 12:36 PM : Nov 21, 2008
I hope the NSA is reading this. You do know that speach such as yours is NOT protected by the constitution during the time of war. You are a moron, idiot and I am sure a democrap.
Posted by tj217 at 12:30 PM : Nov 21, 2008
Why do you paint Democrats as spineless weenies? They are just as responsible for their votes as anybody else. The "bullied" BS is just that, BS. The scary part about your point is that the Democrats are now in charge across the board and you are telling me that they won''t take a stand against what they know is wrong. Sorry, I don''t think Democrats are the wimps that you think they are.
bush did give them "freedom" but
is cost the lives of 650''000 of their brethern.
about 3% of their population.
let''s see.... if it were saddam who''d "liberated" US with 320million, that''d make about 10 million dead Americans.
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Posted by DeckardBR at 12:36 PM : Nov 21, 2008
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote that a "page of history is worth a volume of logic." The American tradition suggests that civil liberties take a backseat during times of war. "History shows us that in times of crisis, the suppression of dissension occurs," said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law professor at the University of Southern California, in a telephone interview.
Sanford Levinson, a law professor at the University of Texas, writes: "It is difficult to read our constitutional history %u2026 without believing that the Constitution is often reduced at best to a whisper during times of war."
The First Amendment is no exception. Attorney Michael Linfield, author of Freedom Under Fire: U.S. Civil Liberties in Times of War, writes: "Rather than being an exception, war-era violations of civil liberties in the United States are the accepted norm for our government."
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Posted by tj217
WHEN IS THIS WAR IN IRAQ ENDING?
Posted by tj217 at 12:58 PM : Nov 21, 2008
So you think that Democrats deserve a pardon for voting for the war because you feel they were too weak & spineless to object to an obvious Bush lead fiasco. Nice. And your feeble attempt at trying to categorize me as a Repub. is hilarious. Watching Repubs & Dems fight over which party is best for America is no different than watching the Bloods & the Crips fight over which gang is best for the neighborhood. You "party people" are just as much part of the problem as the party leaders that tell you what to think.
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Posted by Questionnews
No matter how you look at it - these devout followers of either the Democrat or Republican Party can be classified as Fascist.
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Posted by DeckardBR at 12:36 PM : Nov 21, 2008
I hope the NSA is reading this. You do know that speach such as yours is NOT protected by the constitution during the time of war. You are a moron, idiot and I am sure a democrap.
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Posted by deathofUSA at 12:41 PM : Nov 21, 2008
In as much as I and everyone else considers us to be engaged in a "war", congress has never declared it to be one, and has not declared a state of war since WW2.
Posted by guyfrompa49 at 02:06 PM : Nov 21, 2008
According to National Geographic''s Explorer series, the vast majority of Iraqi civilian casualties since the end of the ground campaign have come from foreign insurgents bombing markets & police stations, attacks on workers employed on public works projects, voters, military recruiting stations and people & family members of those that have taken positions as public officials.
Those people are defending their own country, is there anything wrong with that? or we are the only nation that can do whatever we want wherever we want? As far as WE KNOW, the Iraqis haven''t done any thing harm nor wrong to us... and we are not Mother Teresa, who wants to help their neighbors, because they are suffering and have a dictator president (or perhaps only those who happen to have oil and don''t want to do what our government want them to do)If so why we didn''t do any thing in South Africa? burning an effigy of president Bush wasn''t fair what about another one of *** Chaney? common this is not fair and why not Tony Blare.
I would make an effigy one of any president of any country, and burn if his army commit atrocities to (inside or out side) my country.
Don''t tell me that you love me and want to pay my private school, when your really is to screw my mother for life!!! you got the point?
We might have left Iraq two-three years ago, or we might be there for another 500 years, that country will never have democracy, or live in peace as one nation.
The sad part is, when we leave Iraq (soon I hope) they [Iraqis] will kill each other and our government will be blamed for it.
Mark my words.
Any loss of Us military is BAD!!!.. But when you look at the #''s.... America''s team has done VERY WELL. What other war in history lost 2.06 solders or troops a day.. Then you look at the DOD #''s for the time when Bill Clinton was in Office... We have lost more during Clinton''s Administration (peace time)then we have fighting a war in Iraq.. Hmmmm..
Then you have the losers out there saying 650,000 Iraqis were killed... I guess they forgot how many Saddam Hussein killed.. Or can you prove that Americans killed all of those 650,000? and that the cockroaches (enemy...) never killed any men, women or children.. Never beheaded anyone on video... bah ha ha.. and water boarding is so bad..? I''d take water boarding over a beheading any day..
So keep up the good Work those of you in Americas Military.. Job Well Done!!!!!
Next thing you will be saying that there was no yellow cake Uranium.. http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/u/uraniumyellowcake.htm
or Saddam never killed anyone..
Or America is the aggressors and not the liberators or the people of Iraq.. ..
For once, why not be adults, and take reponsibility for what you did? Oh, that''''s right; you''''ve never been an adult, so asking you or your kind to do the right thing is simply out of the question. Oh, and if you could "think", I just might be impressed.
Posted by tj217 at 02:55 PM : Nov 21, 2008
Yo Sparky! I was against going into Iraq. I know, I know, you could care less about reality as long you have someone to point fingers at.
But I''ll give one thing. Your party masters sure did a great job of brainwashing you into being a good little "party member" (kinda smacks of that good old Soviet Union doesn''t it). "Never be critical of the party"
What''s the deal? Did Democrats plant a chip in your brain that controls your every thought?
And you wonder why Independents are the fastest growing political group. These loyal little drones in both parties are beyond redemption.
PS. Your attempt at insults would be classified as uber-lame. I''m surprised you didn''t dig a little deeper into the insult bag pull out "doo-doo head." Or is that next?
Posted by tj217 at 03:36 PM : Nov 21, 2008
So when Pelosi pushes the button that activates that chip in your brain, does it make a crackle & snapping sound?
Then tj217, Let''s talk about your democrat party.. So your party doesn''t just vote by party lines.. (RIGHT).. Your party didn''t Spar Clinton after h was caught ling to the AMERICAN people.. Your party said.. "He lied.. but that is ok.". and let him off. Your party did not vote to go to war in Iraq? Shale we check how everyone voted..
There needs to be more then just two parties in control of OUR government.. And maybe one day America will see the writing on the wall..
Don''t become an Independent.. We don''t want your type..
Posted by tj217 at 03:50 PM : Nov 21, 2008
Oh come on, you can do better than a joke that''s been around since Pelosi was a virgin. The dust must have been pretty think on that one. But, that last part does give me hope that you might be reasonable at some level.
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Posted by GeneRey at 01:54 PM : Nov 21, 2008
Oh, ok. Our soliders are off to a foreign land playing hide and go seek. I forgot. Thank you.
Actually the truth is that U.S. news crews directed by the military paid Iraqi''s to stomp on the statue of Saddam so they could film it for propaganda purposes.
And you can hardly blame the Iraqi''s for being angry about an american president who lied us all into war and has murdered almost a million humans for profit for his cronies.
Hopefully the trials for genocide and crimes against humanity will start soon.
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