By teleSUR
January 24, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" - The
"Million Man March" convened by Shia cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr exceeded expectations.
At least four million people Thursday demanded the
departure of U.S. troops from Iraq with a march in
Baghdad, which was convened by cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr
three weeks after the murder of Iran's General Qasem
Soleimani.
At the country's capital, streets were
filled with an endless column of people who paraded
to express their repudiation of the U.S. military
presence.
Banners showed slogans such as "No, No
to the U.S. and Yes to Iraqi sovereignty," "The
willingness of free nations is stronger than the
U.S. aggression," and "Global terrorism is made in
the U.S."
While some protesters burned images of Donald
Trump, others marched raising photos of the U.S.
president's face crossed out with a red "X".
"We have not obtained anything from the U.S.
except problems, wars, and sieges," Ziyad Qasim
Abdullah, a 39-year-old chauffeur, said.
The U.S. has "created sectarian conflicts in Iraq
and divided people to plunder the wealth of our
country," he added and explained that he wants to
"expel the occupation forces" from his
country.
Initially, the U.S. government justified the
presence of its troops in Iraq by arguing the fight
against the Islamic State, which managed to control
large areas of Iraqi territory in 2014.
|
Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
|
Since the defeat of this radical group in 2017,
however, those troops have not been removed from
this country.
As a result of the events unleashed by Jan. 3
bombings, in which
Iran's General Qassem Soleimani was killed, the
Iraqi parliament approved a procedure for the
departure of foreign troops.
"If the U.S. meets these demands, then it is not
an aggressor country," Al-Sadr said and added that
if the U.S. will become a "hostile country" if it
violates the conditions specified for its departure.
The highest Shiite religious authority in Iraq,
Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, also reaffirmed today "the
need to respect the sovereignty of Iraq, the
independence of its political decision, and its
territorial unity."
For his part, Iraq's President Barham Salih
posted a photo of Friday's march on social media and
wrote that Iraqis deserved a "fully sovereign state
that serves its people."
This article was originally
published by "teleSUR"
-
Do you agree or disagree? Post
your comment here
==See Also==
Two anti-government protesters were killed
in clashes as Iraqis mass to urge US troop ouster
Yankee go home:
Watch: Huge protests
against the US presence in Iraq.
Main theme 'Get out #America'.
Yankee Go Home -
Watch: Huge rally as Iraqis demand US troops
pull out
