US protesters condemn Iranian general’s killing

WASHINGTON: Demonstrators in dozens of cities around the US gathered on Saturday to protest the Trump administration's killing of the Iranian commander and the decision to send thousands of additional soldiers to the Middle East.

More than 70 planned protests were organised by CODEPINK and Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, a US-based anti-war coalition, along with other groups. From Tampa to Philadelphia and San Francisco to New York, protesters carried signs and chanted anti-war slogans.

Protest organisers said the Trump administration had essentially started a war with Iran by assassinating Soleimani. In Miami, nearly 50 protesters gathered. Drivers heard people shouting, "No more drone murders," "We want peace now" and "What do we want? Peace in Iran”.

A few hundred demonstrators gathered in Times Square on Saturday chanting "No justice, no peace, US out of the Middle East!" "The United States is trying to use Iraq as a proxy war," said Russell Branca, 72, of Queens. "If the United States and Iran are going to fights it's not going to be in the United States and it's not going to be in Iran, it'll be in other places. And it's just crazy because none of this is necessary." In Minneapolis, protesters gathered near the University of Minnesota holding signs and chanting. Among them was Meredith Aby, a longtime leader of the local Anti-War Committee.

"We need to be pulling out of Iraq, not sending thousands more troops. We needto be trying to cool things down with Iran, not pouring gasoline on a fire," Aby, 47, said. Meanwhile, in Iraqi, protesters flooded the streets on Sunday to denounce both Iran and the US as "occupiers", angry that fears of war between the rivals was derailing their anti-government movement.

For three months, youth-dominated rallies in the capital and Shiite-majority south have condemned Iraq’s ruling class as corrupt, inept and beholden to Iran.

Following a US strike on Baghdad Friday that killed top Iranian and Iraqi commanders, Iraqi lawmakers urged the government Sunday to oust thousands of US troops deployed across the country.

For protesters who were hitting the streets, Iran was also a target for blame. "No to Iran, no to America!" chanted hundreds of young Iraqis as they marched through the southern protest hotspot of Diwaniyah.

Young children present carried posters in the shape of Iraq and waved their country’s tri-colour. "We’re taking a stance against the two occupiers: Iran and the US," one demonstrator told AFP.

Nearby, a teenage girl held a handwritten sign reading: "Peace be on the land created to live in peace, but which has yet to see a single peaceful day." Iraqi helicopters circled above, surveying the scene.

Some protesters initially rejoiced, having blamed Soleimani for propping up the government they have been trying to bring down since early October. But joy swiftly turned to worry, as protesters realised pounding war drums would drown out their calls for peaceful reform of Iraq’s government.

In a bold move, young protesters in the southern city of Nasiriyah blocked a mourning procession for Soleimani and top Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis from reaching their protest camp.

Outraged pro-Iran mourners fired on the protesters, wounding three, medical sources told AFP. "We refuse a proxy war on Iraqi territory and the creation of crisis after crisis," said student Raad Ismail. "We’re warning them: don’t ignore our demands, whatever the excuse," he said.

Later in the day, the offices of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary group of mostly-Shiite factions was set on fire in Nasiriyah, an AFP correspondent said. And in the southern port city of Basra, protesters hurled rocks at a mourning procession for Soleimani, prompting his supporters to respond in kind.

In the shrine city of Karbala, student Ahmad Jawad denounced Soleimani’s killing and the ensuing violence. "We refuse that Iraq becomes a battlefield for the US and Iran, because the victims of this conflict will be Iraqis," he told AFP.

Another student, Ali Hussein, was worried about the precarious situation. For demonstrators whose main rallying cry had been "we want a country", Hussein said the foreign military operations were jarring. "It’s proof that there’s no state in Iraq," he said.