Police fire on protesters in Iraq town

[evermind]

Kuwait Arab Times, but a Reuters story, apparently.

Police fire on protesters in Iraq town

SAMAWA, Iraq, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Iraqis rioted over poor public services in the town of Samawa south of Baghdad on Sunday and police opened fire on the crowd, hitting at least eight people, witnesses said.

One man appeared to have been killed, they added.

Residents of the normally calm, mainly Shi'ite town burned vehicles, including a police car, just outside the governor's office and demanded his resignation, the witnesses said.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Uh Georgie.... "they're killing their own people".... or hadn't you

noticed.

[AtomicKitten]

2. Wow.

I'm wondering how the Iraqis are liking their democracy now?

[Journeyman]

3. Their democracy certainly seems more "participatory" than ours. . .

that's for sure.

[rodeodance]

4. so this clearly says that basic services are not yet in place--which lead

to the protests. Now the new Iraqi police have to deal with this as well as the insurgency. The country is a mess!!!!

[UpInArms]

5. does anyone here remember Raed?

http://www.dear_raed.blogspot.com/2003_01_01_dear_raed_archive.html

:: Thursday, January 30, 2003 ::

excerpt:

I am not taking any of that “the great liberators – help others to be free” talk because I do not believe there is such a thing in politics called altruism, there are no free lunches and no one does *anything* without some personal motives. So if your government is going to go to war it is not because they are “helping others to be free” it’s because a hundred other reasons and this one just happens to be a nice one to throw to the public. And no, I will not say it’s the oil, because it is not only oil, although it is a nice little extra thrown in.

I think may be you should read this article (link indirectly via eve tushnet, she linked to which had a link to perils of victory), it starts with a quote from Graham Greene’s “The Quite American”:

“He was incapable of imagining pain or danger to himself as he was incapable of conceiving the pain he might cause others” ……. “The consequences will not be immediate” predicts an Arab ambassador at the UN “you might see GIs distributing chocolates in the streets of Baghdad and being embraced – for three months. And then the opposition to the new colonial power will emerge, and to any other clients being imposed as Iraqi leaders”.*

You just make it sound so easy, you know it’s not. But what the hell, after watching the victorious American army march thru the streets of Baghdad you’ll just turn CNN off and look for another show.
Jack, I hope you understand my view, we simply don’t trust the motives of your government. And if that government is going to war with Iraq we are not naïve to think that they are doing it because they want to spread love and freedom. I am not even sure peace and freedom are going to be among the side effects of that war.

[bemildred]

6. Yeah, props UIA.

Good remember there. Sanity begins when you stop believing all the simplistic, self-serving bullshit shoveled out by the state propaganda organs.