Iraq unrest comes at critical moment in region

[JonLP24]

BAGHDAD (AP) — The young men and women coordinated on social media. Fed up with an Iraqi political elite they blame for their many grievances, they agreed on a mass demonstration on Oct. 1.

They were met with bullets, water cannons and tear gas, plunging the country into renewed instability just as it was starting to emerge from a bloody war against the Islamic State group.

The response to the unrest has triggered ongoing confrontations with protesters across the country and has claimed the lives of more than 30 people in three days. Hundreds have been injured.

The turmoil in Iraq, a country central to America’s Middle East policy, comes at a critical moment in the region amid soaring tensions between Iran and the United States _ both allies of the Iraqi government. Iraq hosts thousands of U.S. troops and also is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias. There were already concerns the country was turning into a proxy battlefield between the two sides.

https://apnews.com/c6a68be447bf4ca29c00a00bb4e94690

[NCLefty]

1. There's been a metric butt-ton of hashtag Iraqi posts on Facebook for the past few days.

It's just like a mess of different hashtags related to Iraq. I figured they were bot accounts someone purchased for an "operation" because many of them post the exact same thing. NYT article comments are at least one of the targets.

[msongs]

2. have seen none on fb. but I dont do politics there nt

[JonLP24]

3. Must be related to the mass demonstration

One of the reasons I love Twitter is its global audience. So many different perspectives.