Sunday, May 08, 2011

Editorial: The very fabric of Iraqi life

Friday, while fact checking Thomas E. Ricks' online wife (an online wife is the more modern equivalent of a "work wife," FYI), C.I. established once and for all that the nonsense of "Iraqis began protesting in February" was a false and media imposed narrative.

In January, there were protests against the continued occupation (such as to mark US Vice President Joe Biden's visit), protests against the lack of reliable public services and much, much more. The furthest back for January appears to be the protest Namo Abdulla (New York Times) reported on January 5th. But there may be others that got press attention or others that didn't but took place prior to that.

And protests continue in Iraq. As we've noted before, The Great Iraqi Revolution is the hottest site online these days. It's the only place you will find up to date information on the protests and, often, it's the only place you'll find (in English) information on the protests period.

Who's reporting or has reported on the protests?

Search engines indicate no media outlet is. But The Great Iraqi Revolution is still providing information. If you read Arabic or are fortunate to know someone who does (on our end, C.I. reads and speaks Arabic) another great resource is Iraqi Revolution.

There you will not only find photos like the one above of Friday's protest, you'll also find the news that young people in Anbar Province are calling for other activists to join them, that Iraqi forces are attempting "to prevent people from going to Tahrir Square [in Ramadi], and now there is a mass rally demanding the opening scene near Tahrir Square" and much more.

So "much more," in fact, that you'll begin to realize just how little western media is reporting on the protests in Iraq. From The Great Iraqi Revolution, you'll find items like the ones below on Friday's protest:


Side of Tahrir Square demonstrations ..:: Fri stability 6 / 5:: .. talking about the protesters harassed security forces to the demonstrators:: .. Lens brother Rami Hayali
https: / / www.facebook.com / Iraqe. Revolution




Stories, photos, videos, evidence of a lively protest movement that involves young people, academics, labor, poets, you name it.

And you'll wonder how what is the very fabric of Iraqi life is rendered invisible week after week by the US media?


But you will know it exists. You will know that without media attention, without a fawning media, without the whole world watching, brave Iraqis demonstrate their courage, their faith in their country and their faither in their people day after day, week after week. They go up against the security forces, up against the curfews and the bans, up against the threats and the intimidation because they know the US-imposed vision of Iraq is not their country and they are fighting for the vision of the country and the reality of their country.