Shiite protesters burn Bush effigy in Baghdad square to protest security pact.
By on Nov 21st, 2008 at 10:17 am
Shiite protesters burn Bush effigy in Baghdad square to protest security pact.
The AP reports that Shiite protesters “stomped on and burned an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same central Baghdad square where Iraqis beat a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein with their sandals five years earlier.” Shiites were protesting the proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact because it would allow American troops to remain in their country for three more years. A Friday prayer sermon written by Muqtada Al-Sadr was read by his representative, Sheik Abdul Hadi al-Mohammadawi:
“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.
UpdateWatch a video of the protesters tearing down Bush's effigy:
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...stomped on and burned an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same central Baghdad square where Iraqis beat a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein with their sandals five years earlier...
Would that be "George W. Bush Square?" :-D
November 21st, 2008 at 10:19 amOne of the talking head supporters of Bush (Kristol?) said he thought that one day there would be a statue of Bush in Baghdad Square. Well, sorta.....
November 21st, 2008 at 10:22 amThis is shocking! Aren't the Iraqi's supposed to be greeting us as liberators? How could this have happened? Didn't Baghdad get the memo from Roger Ailes?
On a more serious note, its unfortunate it was just an effigy.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:25 amIraqis have paid an unholy price for this Bush Blunder.
Bush is hated even more intensely than Saddam was.
America has to turn this 'Empire effort' around to helping others, not invading them to steal their resources.
One can only with that those sandals were slapping the real thing...
November 21st, 2008 at 10:26 amOne can only wish that those sandals were slapping the real thing...
What a difference one little letter can make.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:27 amSo much for Bush's victory tour through his own square in Baghdad.
¶ AIO
November 21st, 2008 at 10:27 amI can just hear the rightwingers decrying the "ingratitude" of the Iraqis.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:31 amBush is likely more despised in Iraq than Saddam Hussein.
One day George W.'s face done in mosaic tile will grace a floor in Baghdad.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:31 amCaption:
November 21st, 2008 at 10:33 am"Bu$h! I smack you in the forehead with my flip flop! And I smile as I do so!"
Marie Says:
Bush is likely more despised in Iraq than Saddam Hussein.
That is a given, but I'll go ya' one better; Bush is more despised by ME than Saddam Hussein.
¶ AIO
November 21st, 2008 at 10:41 amLets remember that the toppling of the statue was a carefully choreographed photo op. The square was blocked off by our miliatary and the 'Iraqis' that did the toppling were brought in from Kuwait to do the deed. Propagand NOT a spontaneous eruption of joy from the ACTUAL Iraqis
November 21st, 2008 at 10:44 amWhy is it necessary to label these political protesters by their religion or ethnicity? We never hear news stories like "Federal building in Oklahoma City blown up by Protestants" or "American abortion doctor gunned down by white person".
November 21st, 2008 at 10:45 ambut haven't y'all heard? the Wingnuts have declared tomorrow
November 21st, 2008 at 10:45 amVictory in Iraq Day. Azzhats.
But I'm sure the Iraqis threw chocolates and flowers on the effigy before beating it and setting it on fire.
PEACE
November 21st, 2008 at 10:52 amA burning Bush?
In the "Cradle of Civilization"?
Sounds more like prophecy.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:55 amThe most popular game in Iraq?
'Beating around the Bush'
November 21st, 2008 at 10:57 amGary Kleppe Says:
Why is it necessary to label these political protesters by their religion or ethnicity? We never hear news stories like “Federal building in Oklahoma City blown up by Protestants” or “American abortion doctor gunned down by white person”.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:45 am
________
Because it's a critical detail in the story. It's not a mixed crowd of Iraqi Sunnis, Shi'ites, Kurds, and assorted minorities protesting. If it were, that would be a very different story, and a banner headline unto itself. Like it or not, Iraqi politics is all about ethnicity and tribe and religion.
It's a crowd of Shi'ites - many Sadrists - protesting an agreement proposed by the Shi'ite-run government of Iraq. The underlying question is that we're not seeing a protest by Sunnis, and we're not seeing a protest by Kurds -- why not? Do they get something out of the proposed deal that Iraqi Shi'ites don't?
November 21st, 2008 at 10:59 amZimzone Says:
Favorite song too.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:02 amSmiling face and loving eyes
But you keep on telling me all those lies
How do you expect me to believe
Honey I ain't that naive
Baby I got my eye on you
But you do all the things that I want you to
Stop your crying and dry your tears
I ain't that wet behind the ears
You can throw me lefts
And you can throw me rights
The way we do this night
Beating around the bush
-AC/DC
An effigy, huh? Too bad it wasn't the real thing.
And no, I'm absolutely not sorry for either saying that or thinking it.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:02 amPropaganda NOT a spontaneous eruption of joy from the ACTUAL Iraqis
Comment by EugeneDebs
That's exactly right; you could see a whole lot more actual Iraqi's standing outside the square just watching.
Also, the rag-tag mob who attacked the statue seemed to move on que precisely at 9:00 am. EST.
¶ AIO
November 21st, 2008 at 11:03 amShame on you for your biased pictures.
I don't see a single rose that they are throwing at the effigy.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:04 ambut haven’t y’all heard? the Wingnuts have declared tomorrow
Victory in Iraq Day. Azzhats.
November 21st, 2008 at 10:45 am
Nov 22 is the 45th anniversary of the assasination by the CIA of President John Kennedy.
It is also, in the kind of unbearable irony that cannot be accidental, the 8th anniversary of the Brooks' Brothers Riot at the Miami-Dade Election bureau which ended the Florida recount.
phuque-nozzles and shit whistles rejoice...
November 21st, 2008 at 11:07 amAs Zooey so quickly noted, this is almost like Bush having a square named after him.
Right, Richard Perle?
"a year from now, I'll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush."
(stated in a speech delivered to AEI entitled "Turkey at the Crossroads", 9.22.03)
November 21st, 2008 at 11:16 amDoes this mean that there won't be a George W. Bush square this year?
SNARK!
Sorry about the very late posting about this, and everyone beating me to the punch. One of the hazards of doing this from work.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:25 amI hear ya, Uncle Ho. I had the very same thought as soon as I saw the headline, but Zooey was already on top of it.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:46 amI guess they ran out of rose petals. I'm sure the cons will write it off as collateral damage, like they have the over ONE MILLION lives lost to this fiasco.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:56 amGod damn ingrates
*cough, gag*
November 21st, 2008 at 12:01 pmThey want us out of there, and i don't beleive that sentiment is limited to one group of them. The majority of them want us completely out of their country, and they've been saying it for YEARS.
Don't we have enough to work on here at home? What would the excess military budget do for our own infrastructure?
Fu(K oil interests. And, harsh as it may sound, fu(k other countries when our own people are being thrown into our streets, and our elderly are going without their medications and heat in their homes so that they can afford some cat food to eat. And Fu(k ANYONE who thinks otherwise. (Pissiness off).
November 21st, 2008 at 12:20 pmI thought we were going to build a big statue of Bush for them to knock over after we left.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:57 pmWow - almost 3 hours and I haven't heard the following:
Their protest is a celebration of their rights they have received as citizens.
Clinton did it first.
It is Obama's fault.
Seriously though, I still say that if Bush really believes his propoganda, he would be happy to walk the streets of Baghdad totally without military or other bodyguards.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:57 pmre: #17 by hussein toasterhead:
You make valid points. But focusing on the ethnicity, tribe, religion, etc. of these protesters is terribly misleading.
I'd be amazed if there were currently any significant Kurdish population in Baghdad. The majority of Kurds are in Kurdistan where, thanks in part to the US, they're both insulated and isolated. Life there is comparatively prosperous and violence free. Kurdistan's had far better relations US businesses (see Shell Oil deals) than elsewhere in Iraq. They have little to protest.
As for the Sunnis, they've been largely "ethnically cleansed" (a term that so makes me sick) right the frick out of Baghdad. Countless others have fled west to Jordan and points beyond. In the few remaining Sunni neighborhoods, they're loath to call unnecessary attention to themselves. Outside of Baghdad we're still paying Sunni tribal leaders plus their peeps to be our friends and git us some al Qaedas.
-AF
November 21st, 2008 at 6:32 pmAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
I think it's rebranded the "Dictator's Humiliation Square"
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:58 am