In a matter of weeks, the Iraqi military had invaded and annexed Kuwait, changing its name to Province 19. Kuwait’s alleged encroachment on Iraqi soil became the perfect excuse for Hussein to order the occupation of the small Gulf state. Six months earlier, in August 1990, Iraq had accused Kuwait of stealing $2.4bn worth of oil from Rumaila, a super-giant oilfield not far from their shared border - bringing an old territorial and oil dispute between the nations to a head. Musician Sally Mars, 24, who uses her stage name, joined protests in Baghdad, Iraq’s Tahrir Square in 2019 I can see it in his eyes how much it affected him,” Mars said. “My mother told me that when he came back, he was a different man. Mars’s father was among the retreating soldiers. In late February 1991, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered the withdrawal of his troops from Kuwait, ending Iraq’s months-long occupation of the neighbouring Gulf state. “It fell into the wrong hands, bad leadership and corruption – imagine so much money and power being given to the wrong people, what can we do?” Mars, 24, told Al Jazeera while sitting in a Baghdad cafe 30 years after Iraq went to war over oil. The country, she says, has been cursed by oil. Mars, who goes by her stage name as a musician, doesn’t care much for oil, yet her life has been largely influenced by the role of the industry in Iraqi politics, even before she was born. The call to specifically end corruption in Iraq’s oil industry quickly became one of the biggest battle cries among demonstrators. Baghdad, Iraq - Like most of the young people who joined Iraq’s countrywide demonstrations in 2019, musician Sally Mars took to the streets to demand that the government tackle unemployment, improve basic services and end corruption.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |