By Hossein Amiri

Iraqi protests, spontaneous or conspiracy?

October 8, 2019 - 14:4

Iraq witnessed protests in recent days about the inadequate public service situation, lack of job opportunities and corruption, but these protests have turned violent and have killed and injured dozens.

There are shreds of evidence indicates that what is happening in Iraq is a "goal-oriented-conspiracy". There are several reasons for this.

First, there are pictures on social networks from Iraqi protesters that are both fake and completely suspicious. Some images of the protesters have slogans against the Shia clerics and Ayatollahs. At the same time, there are mottos in which people demanding the overthrow of the Iraqi government. This is while the Iraqi people deeply believe in Shia's religious authority and its constructive role in the country, and the best example for this the Iraqi people's welcoming to Ayatollah Sistani's 2014 fatwa to mobilize people to fight against ISIL terrorism. On the other hand, the government in Iraq has won the elections and its people have voted for Shia groups to form a government.

Second, the demonstrations in Iraq coincided with the Arba'een Trek. It seems that these demonstrations have targeted Arb'aeen's Trek. The goal is to prevent the Grand March being held in Iraq, on the one hand, and to prevent people from other countries, especially Iran, to go to Iraq to attend the indelible event. This is one of the reasons behind the anti-Iranian slogans in demonstrations in some Iraqi cities.

Third, the demonstrations in Iraq coincided with the Yemeni hegemony against Saudi Arabia as well as with the political stalemate in the occupied territories to form a cabinet.

Iraq is one of those countries that has an independent foreign policy and opposes the Saudi war against Yemen and it is also against the normalization of the ties between some Arab countries with the Zionist regime.

On the other hand, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) "al-Hashd ash-Shaabi" has close relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Due to these ties, Iraq has been targeting by the Arab-Israeli-Western axis.

Secretary-general of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Qais al-Khazali an Iraqi Shi'a paramilitary group, said last August that some political opponents in Iraq are preparing to hold demonstrations with the support of foreign powers because they are unhappy with Iraqi foreign policy. The problem is "Deal of the Century". They want to obey the Iraqi government ... so we will see demonstrations in Iraq again. The demonstrations are scheduled to begin in October.

Fourth, the demonstrations in Iraq also coincided with the government announcing an inquiry's output into the bombing of PMF's garrisons and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's emphasis on the direct role of the Zionist regime in the incident.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing violence in Iraqi, Western and Arab media focused on inducing PMF as a force against the protesters. The behavior of the main media stream also shows that what is going on in Iraq is a "concerted conspiracy", which is aimed at weakening the Iraqi security and military forces, especially the PMF.

Fifth, the protests in Iraq were backed by some elements of the Ba'athist regime. As the protests began, the daughter of Iraq's ousted dictator Raghad Saddam, tweeted in support of the protests, calling them "the generation of Qadisiyah" and writing "The whole of Iraq is with you" and "God bless our martyrs."

It is real that the economic problems and corruption exist in Iraq and that is undeniable, but the violence that occurred during the recent protests and the way the Western and Arab media reported and covered the protests suggests that Iraqis should be vigilant.