Blog Post 2: Iraq February 12th through February 18th, 2011

Iraq has joined in the middle eastern wave of protests that was sparked by Tunisia and Egypt in the past couple months. People took to the streets all over Iraq to protest different things. In Basra, protests favored better services and jobs from the government. Protests in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq appear to be a response to an attack on the Kurdistan Democratic Party offices the day prior. Reports show that one person was killed and 47 were injured in these protests.

Protests!!!

Protests in Baghdad and Kut turned violent when security forces opened fire on a group of protesters calling for the resignation of their provincial governor and at least 3 were killed. The shooting spurred protesters to storm and burn the governor's office and home. They burned all the rooms and even the employees cars. At least 27 people were injured in the storming of the governor's office and home.


There is a glimmer of progress in Iraq through the smoke of these recent protests. In an effort to help provide Iraq with the right amount of electricity, a contract has been made with the Korean Hyundai company to build a 500 megawatt power plant. This power plant, as well as the 1,250 megawatt power plant being built in the Karbala Province, will help close in on the needed amount of electricity to power the country. The Ministry of Electricity expects that the national grid will be able to meet the needs within 2 years.


Iraq continues it's ceaseless cycle of moving forward and then backwards. While protests are not bad in every respect, violent protests are not the way to go. Police violence to protests will do more harm than good.  One person in Iraq said, “When they opened fire on us, I was feeling that we are not a free country.” These feelings will lead to more violence, moving Iraq even more backwards.