2019: 
Posted on 10/31/2019 10:36:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
In Iraq, demonstrators are being shot dead in the streets. In Lebanon, protesters have paralysed the country and seem set to bring down the government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. In recent weeks the Egyptian security forces crushed attempts to protest against the police state of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi...
A rough approximation is that 60% of the region's population is under the age of 30. A young population can be a great asset to a country. But only if the economy, the educational system and the institutions of the state are functioning well enough to accommodate their needs, and with some exceptions that is not happening.
The young in Lebanon, Iraq, and elsewhere in the region are very often consumed by frustration that slips easily into rage...
Demonstrators have targeted bastions of government power, notably the walled off Green Zone in Baghdad. It used to be the centre of the American occupation. Now it is the place where government offices and embassies are located, as well as the homes of prominent people.
The demonstrations started in Baghdad, and have spread. Overnight in the holy city of Karbala there were unconfirmed reports of many killed and injured when demonstrators were fired on. Video has been posted on social media of men running from live fire.
Ever since the protests started, the casualty rate has climbed steadily. Reports from Baghdad say that some Iraqi soldiers have appeared wearing the national flag wrapped around their shoulders, showing what seems to be some solidarity with the protesters.
But reports also say that men dressed in black, some masked, have been opening fire. One theory is that they are from pro-Iranian militias.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Iraq’s GDP per capita in 1990 was $11000 (half of US GDP).
The same figure for 1995 was $173 (third of Nigeria’s GDP).
Maybe, but most of the people lived in slums - only the Republican Guards officers and other well connected types plus Saddam and his family siphoned off most of that money.
2019:
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