Blog Post 5: Iraq March 5th, 2011 to March 11, 2011

Guards outside of the offices of the Iraqi Nation Party

The protests in Iraq the last couple weeks are still going on, despite the efforts of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. The International Herald Tribune reports that Maliki has ordered the closing of the offices of two leading political parties organizing demonstrations. The two parties, the Iraqi Nation Party and the Iraqi Communist Party, were approached on the morning of the 7th by armed security forces bearing the message to close their offices. The parties are calling it a breach of democracy while Maliki's office states that it's simply part of a project to return use of public buildings back to the government.

The violence in Iraq seems to be never ceasing, too. A group of armed gunmen tried to rob a jewelry store in Baghdad on the 10th. They were interrupted by police and began exchanging fire. The gunmen escaped leaving 6 dead. Al Jazeera reports that an Iraqi general was killed in an unrelated incident in Baghdad in a roadside bombing on Wednesday. Brigadier-General Taha Ahmed Samir, head of training for Iraq's air force, was killed along with two other soldiers in the convoy.

The mosque recently reopened in Samarra

A small beacon of hope and achievement for Iraq shines out of the city of Samarra. A mosque, destroyed by insurgents about five years ago, has recently finished reconstruction and is open again to worship. The mosque contains one of the most holy relics to the Shiites: the Askariya Shrine. The shring was built in 944 AD and is an icon for Shiites across the Middle East and even for the Sunnis living in Samaraa. The rebuilding of the mosque is seen as movement forward in Samarra.

This week has some tell-tale examples of how things have been going for Iraq the last couple decades. There has been struggle, violence, rebuilding and reconstruction only to fall back into the same cycle. There is some controversy over whether or not Maliki is shutting down the offices of the two parties as a way to stifle the protests and if how he did it is legal. On the contrary, this could inspire the people more to protest and maybe eventually oust Maliki from his office.