The fact that the world is afire with mass protests against the present system of greed, inequality and corruption seems to be totally missed by our mass media. We get the usual 10/15 minute slot on Hong Kong, then we are launched into a similar time span on the affairs of a rather dim witted corrupt self centre parasite prince. This is then followed by another longish spell of the to two main contenders in the UK's latest crooks and liars competition. This is followed by a slice of the US pantomime of the Trump impeachment, "Greatest Show on Earth". This is your "news", as far as our media is concerned the rest of the world is just fine, so go and get on with your Christmas shopping and we'll keep you informed.
Most, if not all of these mass protests across the world, are against the system that our establishment wish to protect and preserve, and are being treated with the most savage and brutal repression from the various states, something that should be at the top of any true journalists note pad, but we have silence, because the media stooges only follow the narrative of their pay masters.
In Iraq for the last two months or so, thousands have been on the streets, ports have been blocked by strikers, and more and more people are joining them on a daily basis. This despite some of the worst state violence against its own people. Where are our media cameras and reporters? Why, outside Buckingham palace, The White House and in Hong Kong.
The bloodbath in Baghdad19 November 2019
The death toll in the mass protests that have shaken Iraq for the last seven weeks has risen to over 330, with an estimated 15,000 wounded. Young Iraqis have continued to pour into the streets in defiance of fierce repression to press their demands for jobs, social equality and an end to the unspeakably corrupt political regime created by the US occupation that followed the criminal American invasion of 2003.Most of those killed have been felled by live ammunition, including machine-gun fire and bullets fired by snipers, both randomly into crowds and at identified protest leaders. Others have suffered hideous fatal wounds from military-grade tear gas grenades fired point-blank into the demonstrators, in some cases with canisters ending up lodged in the victims’ skulls or lungs. In addition, water cannon have been employed, spraying scalding hot water into the protests. Forced disappearances have been reported, while families of victims shot to death by security forces have been compelled to sign statements acknowledging the deaths as “accidental” in order to receive the bodies of their loved ones.An injured protestor is rushed to a hospital during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
This brutality has only succeeded in drawing ever wider layers of the population, and in particular growing sections of the Iraqi working class, into the anti-government mobilizations. In Baghdad, protesters have succeeded in occupying three strategic bridges over the Tigris River leading into the heavily fortified Green Zone, where government buildings, top officials’ villas, embassies and the offices of military contractors and other foreign agencies are located.In the south of the country, demonstrators have once again mounted a siege of Iraq’s main Persian Gulf port of Umm Qasr near Basra, reducing its activity by over 50 percent. Oil workers announced Sunday that they were going on a general strike in support of the demonstrators, and columns of workers organized by Iraqi unions poured into Tahrir Square to back the protests. In the southern Shia heartland of Iraq, the teachers unions have led a general strike movement that has shut down most cities.Only in the predominantly Sunni northern areas of Anbar Province and Mosul, which were bombed into rubble during the so-called US war against ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), has the protest movement failed to bring masses into the streets. This is not for any lack of sympathy, but rather the threat of a renewed military offensive against any sign of opposition. Even those in the region who have expressed their solidarity on Facebook have been rounded up by security forces, while the authorities have made it plain that anyone there who opposes the government will be treated as “terrorists” and ISIS sympathizers.If anything approaching this level of both mass popular revolt and murderous repression were taking place in Russia, China, Venezuela or Iran, one can easily imagine the kind of wall-to-wall coverage they would receive from the corporate media in the US. Yet, the Iraqi events have been virtually ignored by the broadcast networks and the major print media. This is certainly not for lack of popular interest in the country.
