Iraq News Now

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Lebanese have been demonstrating in the

streets against corruption and for democratic rights. The protesters come from

all economic classes and religious/ethnic groups.

Like the Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2010, these protests are spontaneous

and without traditional leaders. And they are sending corrupt political parties

and foreign powers scrambling to manipulate the protests for their own nefarious

ends.

The current protests raise many of the same issues as the Arab Spring, says

David Dunford, a former US ambassador to several Middle East countries and author

of From Sadat to Saddam: The Decline of American Diplomacy in the Middle

East.

"People in both countries are sick and tired of sectarian jockeying and

foreign influence," he tells me in a phone interview.

In my opinion, the uprisings expose false logic of the vacuum theory, which

posits that US military withdrawal automatically benefits the villain du jour,

whether Russia, Iran, or China. Instead, the protests show that the people of

the Middle East don’t want domination by Washington, D.C., or any outside power.

Lebanon crisis

On a trip to Lebanon earlier this year, I spoke with businessmen who warned

of a coming economic crisis. The Lebanese currency was dropping against the

dollar, and the businessmen saw an economic meltdown coming.

It wasn’t hard to see why. Walking along Beirut’s cornice, or seaside road,

I passed by dozens of vacant, multi-million dollar condos owned as vacation

homes or investments by Saudi sheiks and Emirati businessmen.

Meanwhile, working class Lebanese can’t get basic services: electricity, garbage

collection and protection from raging forest fires. The poverty rate is around

30 percent, according to the World Bank.

On October 17, spontaneous

demonstrations began when the government imposed a new tax on the

What’s App program, widely used on cell phones to make free calls. But demonstrators

quickly added corruption and lack of democracy to their list of demands. They

called for the entire government to resign and an end to

Lebanon’s system by which certain government positions are guaranteed

to each ethnic/religious group and hence to the corrupt political parties.

People sat down on major thoroughfares and set up roadblocks. Universities

shut, and when they reopened, students refused to attend. Banks closed because

depositors feared they couldn’t access their money.

For the first time, Lebanese from different economic classes and religions

joined together demanding an end to the country’s sectarian political system.

They opposed the old, corrupt parties, whether backed by the US, Saudi Arabia,

or Iran.

People were particularly angry with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who gave

$16 million to his bikini model mistress. Hariri and his cabinet resigned

October 29. All the parties in the ruling coalition, which was led by Hezbollah,

scrambled to respond.

Amal and Hezbollah, the two parties with largely Shia Muslim support, initially

supported the demonstrations. But so did Samir Geagea, the ultra right wing

Maronite Christian leader and sworn enemy of Hezbollah.Hezbollah and Amal later withdrew support, having been accused of

beating peaceful demonstrators. 

Groundhog Day all over again

The Trump Administration, in what has become a Groundhog Day experience, didn’t

know how to respond to yet another world crisis, according to a former US diplomat

who recently met with White House and State Department officials. Washington

views Lebanon through the prism of Iran and Syria, he says. "They have

no understanding of what’s going on in Lebanon," the diplomat tells me,

on condition of anonymity.

So far, the Trump Administration does not plan a military intervention but

seeks to weaken Hezbollah, which it alleges is an Iranian proxy. But factions

within the administration differ on tactics.

The White House’s National Security staff believes Hezbollah controls the Lebanese

government and has significant influence in the Lebanese Army. They want to

pressure the Army and opposition parties to break with Hezbollah.

So on October 31, in a surprise move, the US stopped

all aid to the Lebanese Army, including $105 million which had been already

approved in September.

The State Department and Pentagon opposed the aid cut, arguing that the Army

constitutes a stabilizing and pro-western force. Cutting US military aid, they

argue,

just provides more openings for Iran and Russia to exert influence.

All sides believe that the mass protests have weakened Hezbollah. But Hezbollah

not only has a well-armed, battle-hardened militia, it can mobilize tens of

thousands of civilian supporters in a matter of hours. It consistently wins

seats in the Lebanese parliament and has proven adept at forming electoral alliances,

even with former enemies.

Iraqis oppose US and Iran

Given Lebanon’s unsuccessful system guaranteeing government positions to ethnic

groups, you’d think the US would have tried something different in Iraq. Instead,

Washington has created an equally flawed system and imposed it on a poorer,

war-ravaged country.

In Iraq, the political parties break down by religious/ethnic group, resulting

in a Shia Muslim prime minister and Kurdish president. Each party places its

supporters in government jobs and issues government contracts to corrupt partners.

As a result, the government functions as an ATM for the parties and the wealthy

elite.

Meanwhile, ordinary Iraqis don’t have safe drinking water and government-supplied

electricity. Many complain that government services are

worse today than under Saddam Hussein.

Protests against corruption and the party system broke

out October 1. Demonstrators condemned corruption in the pro-US and

pro-Iran parties in Iraq, and within the parties of the Kurdish region.

The government launched a brutal crackdown. To date, more

than 300 protesters have been killed, mostly by uniformed security forces

and government-affiliated snipers.

Protesters threw gasoline bombs at the Iranian consulate in Karbala and chanted

anti-Iran slogans. Persons unknown

launched seventeen rockets into a US air base.

Iraqis have long opposed US occupation of their country. But over the past

few years, they’ve also grown angry at Iran’s influence over certain political

parties and Iranian-controlled militias affiliated with the Iraqi Army.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s leading Muslim cleric, has supported the

demonstrations and opposed Iranian meddling. Moktada al-Sadr, whose political

party won a plurality in the last parliamentary elections, has called

for an end to all foreign interference, whether from Washington or Tehran.

The uprisings in Lebanon and Iraq show once again that people in the Middle

East want democratic reforms, and an end to corruption and foreign domination.

Nowhere is it written that countries must either support the US or Iran. It

may be difficult, but people can determine their own future.

Reese Erlich’s nationally distributed column, Foreign Correspondent, appears

regularly in The Progressive. His book

The Iran Agenda Today: The Real Story from Inside Iran and What’s Wrong

with US Policy – is now available. Follow him on

Twitter, @ReeseErlich; friend him on