100,000 March Against U.S. and Israel in Baghdad

By DAMIEN CAVE and KIRK SEMPLE

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 4 — More than 100,000 followers of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched today to show support for Hezbollah, denouncing Israel and the United States for the violence in Lebanon.

The protesters filled 20 blocks of a wide boulevard and dozens of side streets in the Shiite-dominated Sadr City section of the capital.

Waving Lebanese flags and posters of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, the protesters chanted, “No, no, no, Israel, no, no, no, America,’’ challenged Americans to fight them in their neighborhoods, and called on Hezbollah to strike at Tel Aviv.

The fighting in Lebanon has caused a rift between the United States and the Shiite parties that lead Iraq’s new government, which feel a strong solidarity with Hezbollah, also a Shiite group. Mr. Sadr was one of the first to denounce Israel for the conflict, saying last month that “we will not sit by with folded hands before the creep of Zionism.” He also accused the United States of culpability in the bombardments because of its close relationship with Israel.
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Now, didn't the great uniter, decider guy say we'd leave when we're asked to?
Hello.
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