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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| The revolt against Iran (in Iraq and Lebanon) | |
| 2019-11-06 | |
| [TabletMagazine] Across the Middle East, from Baghdad to Beirut, the citizens of countries thought to be part of Iran's axis of influence have begun to revolt against Tehran. In the face of brutal crackdowns, millions of Iraqi and Lebanese protesters, in movements led by Shiite Muslims that defy reductive sectarian narratives, have erupted in revolt against the corruption and failure of their governments and Iran's domination over their national politics. In early October, predominantly Shiite youth took to the streets in Iraq calling for their government's resignation, and chanting slogans like: "Out, out Iran, Baghdad remains free!" [this has a lot of opinion and some supposition woven into the facts]
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| Posted by:lord garth |
| #2 I have problems understanding what's going on over there. My best assessment is that Iraq being majority Shiite is about to become an Iranian slave state with all the Islamic trimmings. Things can always get worse you know. |
| Posted by: jpal 2019-11-06 17:17 |
| #1 This paragraph is interesting, as we haven’t been looking at the Iran proxy paramilitary funding in Iraq at all: Last summer,  PMF forces refused to heed the Iraqi prime minister’s orders for them to integrate into the national army. Instead, they continue to levy illegal taxes at checkpoints, reaping, according to one report, an estimated $300,000 a day from illegal taxation. They’ve also been smuggling fuel from Basra and making millions selling scrap metal, meddling in ports, and seizing state assets. Encouraged by Tehran, Iran-backed Shiite proxies have taken a page from Hezbollah’s playbook, dominating government  service departments such as health and education ministries to build  allegiance  through  patronage, neglecting those not  dedicated  to Iran’s political-theological  aims.  Sunnis have died in  Baghdad  for example,  because  Shiites controlling  hospitals  and clinics refused to treat members of the opposite sect. On the Lebanon/Hizb’allah side Shiite protesters torched Hezbollah offices in the group’s heartland of Nabatieh, in a sign that the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, has weakened Iranian clients like Hezbollah. As funding from the Islamic Republic—which accounts for around 70% of Hezbollah’s income—has fallen, the group has been forced to reduce wages for its fighters and social services for its constituents. Two million demonstrators flooded the streets in Lebanon, a country of only 4.5 million. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2019-11-06 16:10 |