"Death to America"

"Death to America" - chanted by Iraqis whom America is supposedly liberating from tyranny. Things in Iraq have gone dreadfully awry, as many predicted (including myself) before the invasion.

Here's an article about recently developing instability in the South of Iraq. go to original

Ali al-Fadhily
BASRA, Apr 11 (IPS) - The eruption of demonstrations in the south of Iraq this week could rob the occupation forces of what was considered a critical bastion of support.

The southern areas of Iraq have long been said to be secure, and people there peaceful towards the occupation forces. Iraqis living in the south were also believed to be cooperative with the occupation to the extent that they supported administrative steps taken by successive Iraqi governments.

The majority of the population of the south are Shia Muslims, and Iraq has had Shia- dominated governments under the occupation.

But demonstrations against the occupation and the United States by hundreds of thousands of angry Shias in Najaf, Kut and other cities across the south Apr. 9 mark a sharp break from a policy of cooperation. Protesters demanded an end to the U.S.-led occupation, burnt U.S. flags and chanted "Death to America!"

Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Mayahi, a police commander in Najaf, told reporters that at least half a million people joined the demonstration there.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, told reporters, "We say that we're here to support democracy. We say that free speech and freedom of assembly are part of that. While we don't necessarily agree with the message, we agree with their right to say it."

Clashes after the demonstration left at least one U.S. soldier dead and another wounded in Diwaniyah, 180 km south of Baghdad.

...

"We were late to realise that we were wrong about U.S. intentions," Salman Yassen of the Basra city municipality council told IPS. "We waited four years while U.S. and Iraqi authorities kept us busy fighting each other while they were setting the plan of stealing our oil and tearing our country apart so that their allies would feel safe."

Four years of the occupation of Iraq have seen many changes in U.S. strategies, ambassadors and tactics, but the changes may be too little, too late.

"The delay in moving politically has cost Iraq, the U.S. and many other countries a great deal," former Iraqi police colonel Ahmed Jabbar told IPS in Baghdad. "The least to be said is that the world would have been better off without this occupation and the catastrophic security disturbance it has caused."

Great article, important perspectives. After four years of occupation, the Iraqi people hate America.

Way to go George Bush (et al.) That is why I ask you to please resign from office.