Photo: Demonstrators wave Iraqi flags as they march during a rally marking four years to the day since Baghdad fell to invading American troops, in Najaf, south of Baghdad, April 9, 2007. (Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters)
REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ
A Day of Violence In Iraq, Hour by Hour – April 9, 2007
A log of developments from across the country on fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall. A total of 25 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on Monday, according to police and morgues.
-4 a.m. Police in Baqouba said U.S. forces shot at an ambulance, believing someone in the vehicle had opened fire on them. The driver and the patient were not hurt.
-4:30 a.m. Clashes erupted again in Buhriz, about 35 miles north of Baghdad, between gunmen and al-Qaida in Iraq fighters. Thirty civilians and gunmen were wounded, Diyala provincial police said. Al-Qaida casualties were not known. [More at link – would be interesting to compare to the Security Incidents above to see if they all got mentioned. – dancewater]
VIDEO: Muhammad Describes Torture In Iraq
The man, “Muhammad”(not his real name), interviewed this week is just one of many, an innumerable and apparently increasing number of Iraqis who have been tortured by militias and fighters from all sides of Iraq’s violence. This past Sunday, the Association of Muslim Scholars, an important Sunni authority in Iraq again raised the spectre of torture, alleging that the deaths of two Sunni scholars found Saturday. The allegations of an Iranian diplomat that he was tortured by US CIA agents after being arrested by Iraqi forces led Iran to bar Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki from flying through Iranian airspace on Saturday, while en route from Iraq to Tokyo. Although much has been said about the Abu Ghraib scandal and abuses at the Guantanamo facility, the apparently widespread use of torture in Iraq, on all sides of the conflict, particularly agents of the Iraqi government, has rarely been spoken about. Alive in Baghdad has repeatedly discussed the use of torture in Iraq, including publishing photos of the injuries of alleged torture victims and a video interview with another man who claims to have been tortured by Iraqi security forces in Ramadi. This week’s video is our attempt to continue the discussion of torture in Iraq, shedding light on an important, and often overlooked, element of the Iraq war.
US Bombs Iraqi City
US aircraft have carried out air strikes in the city of Diwaniya in central Iraq, as clashes between armed groups and security forces continued for a second straight day. An Iraqi army source said US jets bombed houses in the al-Jumhuriyah district of the city, a stronghold of Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi army. A hospital source and a resident said six people, including two children and a woman, were killed in a missile strike on a home.
AUDIO: Maps Of Iraq Symbolize Unity Call
Weary of sectarian bloodshed, some Baghdad residents have taken to wearing small gold maps of Iraq around their necks to express their loyalty to a unified nation.
2,252 Victims of Violence Buried in ‘Mass Graves’ in Karbala
The government is burying en mass hundreds of bodies of victims of violence which have been lying in Baghdad morgue for several months. Government sources, refusing to be named for fear or retribution said, said at least 2,252 bodies have been buried in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. But the government itself is making no secret of the burials. A government-related website said on Wednesday that 93 more bodies were buried in Karbala. It said they were all numbered and pictured before burial. It said the 93 bodies could not be identified and have been lying in the morgue for a long period. No one has come forward to claim them, it said.
Millions of Iraqi Flags in Baghdad, Kut, Najaf, Karbala
Hundreds of Iraqi flags were flown on the streets of Kut, in the Wasit governorate, above rooftops, government departments and in public squares and on buses and private vehicles, as part of a campaign by non-governmental organizations, political and religious movements to encourage Iraqi national unity and to oppose sectarianism and division. Ali Hamid, one of the campaigners, told the Voices of Iraq Agency that the goal is to symbolize Iraqi unity. Similar scenes were reported in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. In Baghdad, the Iraq News Agency reports that Baghdadis are speculating on the group that is behind this initiative to fly Iraqi flags in the capital’s streets and public squares at a time when the country is witnessing sectarian violence that is unprecedented in its history. Hana Edward, secretary of the Iraqi Hope Society, said that she did not know of any non-governmental organization that has adopted such a program, but she expressed support. “I prefer that the Iraqi flag is flown, instead of meaningless flags and banners that serve to divide the different communities of Iraq,” she said. Eman Shamkhi, a university professor from Waziriya, demanded a whole week for Baghdad residents to raise Iraqi flags on their rooftops and on government buildings because it is the only remaining symbol that unites Iraqis, but she said it should not coincide with April 9 because it is an anniversary of occupation and not national unity.
Iraqis Flock to Najaf for Anti-U.S. Occupation Protest
Thousands of Iraqis flocked to the holy city of Najaf on Sunday for a big demonstration called by radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr against the U.S. presence in Iraq. Sadr has urged Iraqis to protest in Najaf on Monday, the fourth anniversary of the day on which U.S. forces swept into central Baghdad in 2003. It is remembered around the world as the day a large statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in the Iraqi capital. The Baghdad-Najaf road was packed on Sunday with hundreds of vehicles crammed with passengers waving Iraqi flags and chanting religious and anti-U.S. slogans. "No, no, no to America ... Moqtada, yes, yes, yes," they chanted as they converged towards Najaf. Sadr himself is not expected to attend the gathering -- he has not appeared at a large public gathering in months. A statement is likely to be read out on his behalf. Protesters in the southern town of Samawa clashed with Iraqi police on Sunday after they were stopped from getting to Najaf. One protester stabbed a policeman and police retaliated by firing shots in the air to disperse the crowd, witnesses said. Monday's protest is expected to attract tens of thousands of Iraqis angry at the violence that grips their country, four years after U.S. forces ousted Saddam. Demonstrations will begin at a mosque in nearby Kufa, then move to Najaf.
Iraqi Professors Killed in High Numbers
The head of the International Committee for Solidarity with Iraqi Professors said that 232 Iraqi professors have been killed since April 2003, while 3 thousand others have fled the country and 56 have went missing. Qais Jawad Al-Azzawi, head of the international committee that has headquarters in Geneva and Paris, said during a visit to Dohuk in northern Iraq with a delegation of Reporters Sans Frontiers that these losses have forced the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education to close 152 educational departments in several Iraqi universities, a decision that has deeply affected the educational process in the country. Only 25% of Iraqi students continue to attend classes following the bombings that targeted the Mustansiriya University in January 2007.
Iraqi Press Reports
Iraqi newspapers on Saturday focused on the return of chlorine-laden cars, particularly in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, and the news about clashes between militant groups in Diala, with U.S. and Iraqi forces "only watching." Under the headline, "Chlorine-laden cars return to Ramadi's security scene," the newspaper said a suicide bomber driving a chlorine-laden truck blew himself up on Friday in Ramadi, killing at least 20 people and injuring 30 others. Other chlorine gas car bombs were set off in different areas in Iraq, including Baghdad, Falluja and Abu Gharib, the newspaper said. The Anbar tribes, along with their allied clans, raided the last militant strongholds in Ramadi's districts of Al-Hawz, Al-Mualimeen and Al-Iskan. "The hidden conflict between the so-called 'Al-Qaeda' in Iraq organization and other militant organizations has become open. Militant clashes intensified during the past three days, killing and injuring dozens of people, while U.S. and Iraqi forces watched the scene," Az-Zaman quoted a member of the province council who commented on the militant clashes in Diala. Under the two headlines, "Islamic Army calls on Bin Laden to support Iraq's Al-Qaeda Organization" and "Pentagon clears former regime of links with Al-Qaeda," the newspaper published a long news item saying that in a statement published on the Internet the Iraqi Islamic Army, one of the most prominent militant groups, called on Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden to interfere and put an end to the practices of Al-Qaeda in Iraq organization. The statement criticized the organization and accused it of killing more than 30 fighters belonging to other groups, including "Al-Mujahideen Army, the 1920 Revolution Brigades and Ansar Al-Sunna Group."
American Convoy Holds Up Plans in Baghdad
Finally, at a little past eight, the convoy ended and I was free to leave. As I stepped out onto the night street, I involuntarily drew in my breath. Dulaimy was right! The sight was indeed breathtaking! The long stretch of the four roads separated by narrow pavements with big leafy trees had never looked more beautiful! The street lights (that I have not seen for years now) were on; and to me, it looked like an enchanted land of sweet and bitter memories that came flooding back to me in such force, I was overwhelmed, and cried hot tears of … what? I don’t know. A few minutes later, after having regained my composure, I turned on the car, fumbled for the long forgotten light switches, and drove very slowly, very silently, and very uneasily home in the forbidden night of my city.
Looted Library, Reborn, Still in Peril
In the three years since he took over the Iraqi National Library, Saad Eskander has repaired the damage from theft and arson, played detective and advised his employees on staying alive. He has transformed the library, burned and looted in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003, into a symbol of hope in a country mired in sectarian violence, crime and political bickering. The three-story, tan-brick building has been restored, new furniture procured, computer and book restoration departments established, and some 100 young university graduates hired to inject new blood into the stodgy organization. It's across from the Ministry of Defense, near three neighborhoods notorious for Sunni insurgent attacks, kidnappings and late-night murders. Hardly a week goes by without at least one of Eskander's 450 staff members or their families receiving a death threat. Five of his staff have been killed, others kidnapped or wounded.
Medical Waste A Growing Health Hazard
Raghed Sarmad, 32, and her two children, aged seven and eight, spend their days scavenging through piles of rubbish in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in search of anything they can sell for food. She prefers medical waste, because there is a greater chance of finding items of some value. Sarmad is oblivious to the numerous diseases they could catch by handling such waste. “There isn’t much blood in the rubbish [so it’s safe]. We find some good metal things which we can sell in the market. Some people buy syringes with needles from us. I don’t think the needles can harm us because they must have been sterilized already,” Sarmad told IRIN while rummaging through medical waste left near the main gate of Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital. “I need to eat and can’t find a job. My husband was killed three years ago, leaving me alone with three children to look after. We can sell some things we find in dumps and then at least get something to eat,” she added.
……. “Over the past year, dozens of children have ended up in our emergency rooms with symptoms of infectious diseases due to contact with waste - some from hospital waste. Poverty is the main cause, but lack of awareness is aggravating the problem,” Haydar Khouri, a pediatrician at Sadr City Hospital, said. “Last week I had a child patient with a [syringe] needle stuck his leg from playing with the hospital rubbish,” Khouri added. Ali Hassan, a 9-year-old resident of Sadr City, is a regular at the hospital’s waste dump. “We find very nice things to play with in the hospital rubbish. We find syringes, cotton and empty bottles. Once we found a fetus - that was amazing! We play like we’re doctors. My mother always tells me to train well because one day I could be a good doctor,” said Ali.
Forgotten Children of Baghdad
Four years on since the US invasion, many of the people who continue to suffer the most in Iraq are the country's children. Many have lost their families to the violence and are forced to live on the streets in the midst of a war, surviving by living in dumps and eating whatever scraps they can find. Poverty in Iraq has reached new levels in the last four years. Many children have little or no access to basic necessities, like clean water, health care or education. Poverty in Iraq has reached new levels in the last four years. Many children have little or no access to basic necessities, like clean water, health care or education.
Iraqis Protest U.S. Occupation of Iraq
Tens of thousands of protesters loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shiite cleric, took to the streets of the holy city of Najaf today, the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, to demand an end to the American military presence in Iraq. Protesters trod on and burned American flags, waved Iraqi flags and chanted "Death to America!" Residents said the angry, boisterous demonstration was the largest seen in Najaf, the heart of Shiite religious power, since the American-led invasion in March 2003. It was clearly an attempt by Sadr to show the world the extent of his influence here in Iraq, even though he did not appear personally at the rally. Sadr went underground after the American military began a new push to secure Baghdad on Feb. 14, and his whereabouts since then are not known. Sadr appeared to be trying, by way of the protest, to shore up his image as a nationalist rebel who appeals to anti-American Shiites and Sunni Arabs. He established that reputation in 2004, when he publicly supported Sunni insurgents in Fallujah who were battling the American Marines, and quickly gained popularity among Sunnis across Iraq and the region. But that reputation has been tarnished somewhat in the last year, as Sunni Arabs have accused Sadr's formidable militia, the Mahdi Army, of torturing and killing Sunni Arabs. During the protest, Sadr followers draped themselves in Iraqi flags or waved them in the air to symbolize unity, and there were some conservative Sunni Arabs marching with the largely Shiite crowd of protesters. "We have 30 people who came," said Ayad Abdul Wahab, an agriculture professor in Basra who took part in the protest. He is an official of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a leading fundamentalist Sunni Arab group. "We support Moktada in this demonstration, and we stress our rejection of foreign occupation," Wahab said. "We ask the United States and its allies to withdraw from Iraq and leave the country to its sons to solve its problems." Wahab and his friends held up a 30-foot-long Iraqi flag as they marched.
REPORTS – IRAQI MILITIAS, POLITICIANS, POWER BROKERS
Moqtada Sadr Sacks Representatives in Parliament
Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose militias are fighting U.S. and Iraqi troops in southern Iraq, is reported to have dismissed his group’s representatives in the parliament. The group has 35 members in parliament, about one third of the ruling Shiite coalition. The dismissal, if confirmed, will be a blow to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Maliki’s government is already under immense pressure. Other smaller blocs in parliament are trying to work a new coalition with the explicit aim of toppling Maliki. If Sadr withdraws his support, Maliki’s government will be in a precarious situation politically. The move by Sadr came following the joint attack by U.S. and Iraqi troops on one of his major strongholds in the southern city of Diwaniya. It is not clear why the U.S. started its move against Sadr and his powerful Mahdi Army in the city of Diwaniya, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad. Iraqi watchers say the city is a major base of Sadr and that many of his commanders had taken it as a refuge to avoid direct contact with U.S. troops striving to appease Baghdad streets.
Insurgents Claim Deadly Convoy Attack
A SUNNI insurgent group has claimed responsibility for a deadly roadside bomb attack on a British patrol this week in southern Iraq, according to a message posted on a militant website overnight. The Mujahedeen Army, or Jaish al-Mujahedeen, said it was responsible for planting the explosives that killed four British servicemen and their Kuwaiti interpreter on April 5, said the US-based SITE Institute, which monitors Islamist sites. The group set up an ambush in the early morning hours against the British patrol, planting an improvised explosive device near the southern city of Basra which detonated as a British armored vehicle approached the area, it said. The explosion "led to its complete destruction and the death of those who were in it," and was followed by an exchange of fire "which led to the injury of several British soldiers," it said. The British military said earlier this week that the four soldiers and civilian translator travelling in the same vehicle were killed outside Basra in a complex roadside bomb, small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attack.
Kurdish Leader Warns Turkey Not to Intervene in Kirkuk
Turkey must not interfere in the Kurds' bid to attach Iraq's oil-rich city of Kirkuk to the Kurdish semi-autonomous zone, the top official in Iraqi Kurdistan said in remarks broadcast Saturday. Otherwise, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said, Iraq's Kurds will retaliate by intervening in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, where insurgents have battled for decades to establish their own autonomy. Barzani, president of the 15-year-old Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, issued the warning after last week's endorsement by the Iraqi government of a decision to relocate and compensate thousands of Arabs who moved to the city as part of Saddam Hussein's campaign to push out the Kurds. The government's decision was a major step towards implementing a constitutional requirement to determine the status of the disputed city by the end of the year. The plan will likely turn Kirkuk and its vast oil reserves over to Kurdish control, a step rejected by many of Iraq's Arabs and Turkmen — ethnic Turk who are strongly backed by Turkey. "We will not let the Turks intervene in Kirkuk," Barzani said in an interview with Al Arabiyah television. "Kirkuk is an Iraqi city with a Kurdish identity, historically and geographically. All the facts prove that Kirkuk is part of Kurdistan." Some in Turkey have hinted at military action to prevent the Kurds from gaining control of Kirkuk.
Kurdish Leader Says U.S. Sought To Capture Revolutionary Guard
American forces who captured five Iranians in the northern city of Irbil three months ago were really after commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards who were visiting Kurdish officials, the Kurdish leader said in remarks broadcast Saturday. Massoud Barzani, president of the 15-year-old Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, told Al-Arabiyah television that the Iranian commanders first visited Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah and then went to visit him. Barzani did not say where he met the commanders, although he was thought to have been in Irbil at the time. He also did not say how he knew U.S. forces were trying to capture the commanders or where they were when the Americans raided a house in Irbil on Jan. 11 and detained the five Iranians, who still are in U.S. custody. Irbil is the capital of the Kurdish region. “It (the house) was not a secret Iranian office. It is impossible for us to accept that an Iranian office in Irbil was doing things against coalition forces or against us. That office was doing its work in a normal way and had they been doing anything hostile, we would have known that,” Barzani said.
Iraqi Sunni MP Denies Weapons Cache
An Iraqi Sunni lawmaker denied Monday that he had stashed weapons in his Baghdad home and accused the Iraqi government and Iran of trying to discredit him because of his criticism of state policies. Khalaf al-Ilyan spoke to The Associated Press one day after an Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops had found a huge stash of weapons in his home and arrested more than a dozen men. Al-Ilyan, who is recovering from knee surgery in Jordan, accused the Shiite-led government of a smear campaign against him. He said if there were weapons at his home, the Shiite-led security forces must have planted them. "Government authorities search my house twice a week. How can I stash away weapons there? How can I hide weapons there? Am I that foolish to do that when there are so many areas in Iraq where weapons could be concealed?" al-Ilyan said.
REPORTS – US/UK/OTHERS IN IRAQ
US Accused of Using Neutron Bombs
The former commander of Iraq's Republican Guard has accused the US of using non-conventional weapons in its war against the Middle East country. Saifeddin Fulayh Hassan Taha al-Rawi told Al Jazeera that US forces used neutron and phosphorus bombs during their assault on Baghdad airport before the April 9 capture of the Iraqi capital. Al-Rawi is one of the most wanted associates of Saddam Hussein, the deposed Iraqi leader, still on the run. "The enemy used neutron and phosphorus weapons against Baghdad airport... there were bodies burnt to their bones," he said. The bombs annihilated soldiers but left the buildings and infrastructure at the airport intact, he added. A neutron bomb is a thermonuclear weapon that produces minimal blast and heat but releases large amounts of lethal radiation that can penetrate armour and is especially destructive to human tissue.
CIA Tortured Me in Iraq, Claims Freed Iranian Diplomat
An Iranian diplomat who was freed last week, two months after being seized in Iraq, said yesterday that he had been tortured by the CIA while in captivity at an Iraqi government installation. The claims by Jalal Sharafi on Iranian state television will lead to fresh speculation that the diplomat was freed as part of a deal to secure Wednesday's release of 15 British servicemen seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The allegations also come amid continuing political fall-out over the two-week hostage crisis in both London and Tehran, with both Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Prime Minister Tony Blair being criticised for their behaviour during the stand-off.
Denial of Iranian Claim of CIA Torture
An Iranian diplomat freed two months after being abducted in Iraq accused the CIA of torturing him during his detention, state television reported Saturday. The United States immediately denied any involvement in the Iranian's disappearance or release. Jalal Sharafi, who was freed on Tuesday, said the CIA questioned him about Iran's relations with Iraq and assistance to various Iraqi groups, according to state television. "Once they heard my response that Iran merely has official relations with the Iraqi government and officials, they intensified tortures and tortured me through different methods days and nights," he said. Sharafi's comments came a day after 15 British sailors released by Iran said they had been subject to psychological pressure and coercion in captivity. The sailors were captured in the Persian Gulf on March 23 for allegedly entering Iranian waters and released Wednesday. At the time of his disappearance, Iran alleged Sharafi had been abducted by an Iraqi military unit commanded by American forces - a charge repeated by several Iraqi Shiite lawmakers. U.S. authorities denied any role in his disappearance. [Now, who are we going to believe? Having just seen THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO, I would believe the claims of torture. – dancewater]
Iraq PM Barred From Iran Airspace
Iran refused to allow the Iraqi prime minister to fly across its airspace as he was traveling to Tokyo, members of the delegation traveling with Nouri al-Maliki told The Associated Press early Sunday. The delegation members said al-Maliki's plane was diverted on Saturday night to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where al-Maliki stayed in the airport for more than three hours while his government aircraft was refueled and a new flight plan was filed. Two members of the delegation told AP about the incident by telephone from Dubai. A government official in Baghdad confirmed their account. ………Al-Maliki was traveling to Japan to finalize a loan for Iraq to repair and upgrade the Iraq's energy industry. When it was announced in December, the loan was worth $707.53 million. [Iraq should not have to take out loans to fix anything. The Americans should pay for it all. – dancewater]
Patterns of War Shift in Iraq Amid U.S. Buildup
Nearly two months into the new security push in Baghdad, there has been some success in reducing the number of death squad victims found crumpled in the streets each day. And while the overall death rates for all of Iraq have not dropped significantly, largely because of devastating suicide bombings, a few parts of the capital have become calmer as some death squads have decided to lie low. But there is little sign that the Baghdad push is accomplishing its main purpose: to create an island of stability in which Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and Kurds can try to figure out how to run the country together. There has been no visible move toward compromise on the main dividing issues, like regional autonomy and more power sharing between Shiites and Sunnis.
Australia's 'Blood Money' Payments to Iraqis Revealed
DOZENS of Iraqi citizens have received secret compensation payments of up to $90,000 each from the Federal Government after claiming personal harm or hardship caused by Australian soldiers. Australian taxpayers have funded at least 45 amounts - usually paid in wads of US dollars - out of respect for what the Defence Department describes as an "eye-for-an-eye culture". In total, $266,681 of taxpayers' money has been paid out to Iraqi civilians in so-called act of grace payments since the Australian Defence Force began operations in Iraq. The payments are huge sums for Iraqis, with the US Agency for International Development putting the present Iraq average annual income at $1830. There were 37 individual payments for damage and injuries resulting from car accidents, ranging from $69 to $9390. Others included payments relating to crop damage and shootings. While brief details are provided for some of the awards, the single biggest amount of $89,100 paid out last year has not been explained. But it is thought the sum is most likely to have been paid to the family of the bodyguard of the Iraqi Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudani.
COMMENTARY
How U.S. ‘Liberation’ Turned Into Disaster
Four years ago, many Iraqis did not expect to reap the death, oppression, hatred and division they experience today following the demise of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Most Iraqis, among them those who had signed up to the U.S. project and those who supported it had hopes that George Bush’s nice promises of establishing a democratic system that will be unique in the Middle East will be materialized. But the winds did not blow the ‘democratic’ way. Thus, four years after the departure of Saddam Hussein, we can safely and confidently say that the Untied States has completely failed in realizing Iraqis’ dream of a democratic government and prosperity under the shade of the American dream. Driven by a burning desire to end dictatorship, many Iraqis had even forgotten or tried to overlook the crimes the U.S. had committed against them. They knew the U.S. was a major ally of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship during his war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. They had horrific memories of the atrocities Saddam Hussein committed when they rose against his regime in the 1991 Gulf War aftermath as U.S. troops, war planes and helicopter gun ships looked on. Many Iraqis tried not to remember the large-scale deprivation, poverty, isolation, malnourishment and social disaster the U.S.-supported U.N. trade sanctions had caused. The nearly 13-year long sanctions punished the hapless Iraqis while the dictator, his cronies, aides and supporters led lavish lives. Only a few Iraqis had the courage to remind their country men that the U.S. was not trustworthy. They tried to remind Iraqis that U.S. Middle East policy is notorious for its double standards, duplicity and hypocrisy. They cited U.S. performance in dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. No good would come from a country which considers someone like (former Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon a man peace at a time his crimes against the Palestinians and the Lebanese are well documented. This small circle of Iraqis wanted to drive messages like these home but to no avail. They wanted to tell Iraqis that it was impossible for a country like the U.S. to play the role of a reformer in Iraq.
Photo: Demonstrators wave Iraqi flags as they march during a rally marking four years to the day since 
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