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Is a New Arab Spring Unfolding in the Middle East?
BBC ^ | October 29, 2019 | Jeremy Bowen

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Egypt; Foreign Affairs; Israel; Russia; Syria
KEYWORDS: arabspring; arabspring2; djibouti; egypt; erdogan; eritrea; gaza; hamas; hassannasrallah; hezbollah; iran; iraq; isis; islamofascism; islamofascists; israel; jerusalem; jihad; jordan; kurdistan; lebanon; letshavejerusalem; muslimworld; newarabspring; receptayyiperdogan; russia; sinai; sudan; syria; trumpmiddleeast; turkey; waronterror; yemen
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1 posted on 10/31/2019 10:36:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...

"If there's a big payday in it, I'm there!"

Creepy Joe Biden: Image Gallery (List View) | Know Your Meme

2 posted on 10/31/2019 10:37:00 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

There was never an Arab Spring. It was a delusion! Idiots actually thought that m*slim (not arab) countries could possibly become democracies, free of the oppressive shackles of a throwback religion. Didn’t happen. Isn’t going to happen any time soon.


3 posted on 10/31/2019 10:42:00 AM PDT by I want the USA back (The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it. Orwell.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Iraq War + Obama/Clinton/Powers/McCain/Graham meddling to create ISIS + Gadaffi murder = 2 million migrant invasion of Europe = MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Wonder what our globalist "betters" have planned next

4 posted on 10/31/2019 10:46:03 AM PDT by montag813
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To: SunkenCiv

The young need to demonstrate against and overthrow the Islam that is the root of their troubles.


5 posted on 10/31/2019 10:49:48 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: SunkenCiv

In Lebanon, protesters have paralysed the country and seem set to bring down the government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri


Saad already resigned. Hezbollah troops are putting down the protestors. Everyone is gearing up for another civil war. Hezbollah’s arsenal guarantees a win.


6 posted on 10/31/2019 10:50:46 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: PIF

Prime Minister of Lebanon is one step below mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in terms of political power and required skill level. I feel sorry for the guy who stepped up to take that position.


7 posted on 10/31/2019 10:56:47 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
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To: I want the USA back

My former neighbor was a Berber Muslim who said most of the islamic trouble in the world stemmed from the Arabs. While I despise islam, I think he was right. They cause trouble wherever they are.


8 posted on 10/31/2019 11:14:59 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: I want the USA back

The Mideast was better off colonized but that was said to be inhumane by the West and not fair to the people. Then the Mideast was better off with ruthless dictators but America decided the Mideast deserves regime change. The Mideast as a Democracy will never ever happen nor work.


9 posted on 10/31/2019 11:22:17 AM PDT by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: shanover

“The Mideast as a Democracy will never ever happen nor work.”

When I look at the House of Representatives and Senate, I’d say it doesn’t much work in America either.


10 posted on 10/31/2019 11:24:21 AM PDT by Scott from the Left Coast (It's the corruption, stupid)
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To: I want the USA back

Nope! It’s the totalitarianism stupid!


11 posted on 10/31/2019 12:14:10 PM PDT by gr8eman (Stupid should hurt!)
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To: Paladin2

“”””The young need to demonstrate against and overthrow the Islam that is the root of their troubles.””””

LOL. Worked just great in Iran during Carter’s time.


12 posted on 10/31/2019 9:17:14 PM PDT by NorseViking
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To: Pollster1

Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleiman just took over the Iraqi army and security forces in preparation to put down unrest Iranian style. US reaction as yet unknown.


13 posted on 11/01/2019 1:37:30 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: PIF

So much for how many lives and dollars expended.


14 posted on 11/01/2019 4:05:32 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

Once the Shiites took power in Iraq, it was inevitable that Iran would attempt to assume control at some point. Sunnis hate them, but they are all tied up with ISIS and similar Sunni groups at the moment.


15 posted on 11/01/2019 5:22:00 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: PIF

It was a gross mistake to treat Iraq worse than post-WWI Germany following Desert Storm.


16 posted on 11/01/2019 5:25:49 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

I don’t recall much about WWI and Germany except the ‘no militarization’ stuff, but after WWII we kept troops fighting Nazi insurgencies for many years.


17 posted on 11/01/2019 5:44:53 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: PIF

Germany was impoverished and humiliated after WWI.


18 posted on 11/01/2019 6:14:12 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

Iraq was already impoverished before the war. Any defeat of any muslim is a humiliation - especially Arab Muslims who consider themselves the Master Race - from whom AH got the notion.

So Iraq after the war was more like Germany after WII than after WWI - IMHO.


19 posted on 11/01/2019 6:26:06 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

No, mayhem as characterized the last "Arab Spring" is nothing new.

20 posted on 11/01/2019 8:44:45 AM PDT by SJackson (blow in a dogÂ’s face, he gets mad at you, car ride; he sticks his head out the window)
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