Demonstrators gather at a protest during a curfew, three days after the nationwide anti-government protests turned violent, in Baghdad, Iraq. Reuters

Forms of corruption vary, but the government level depravity causes a big damage to the society. Corruption may facilitate criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking, though it is not restricted to these activities. Among the 94 dead across the country since Tuesday, 55 were killed in Baghdad while 250 others in the capital were treated for sniper wounds, the Iraqi parliament’s human rights commission said (“Protesters flood Iraq streets

anew after lifting of curfew,” Oct.06, Gulf Today).

Nearly 4,000 people have been wounded since the protests began in Baghdad and spread to cities across the south; protesters have insisted their movement is not linked to any party.

People especially the poor get hurt when resources are wasted. Corruption at all levels of all societies is a behavioural consequence of power and greed. Descriptions of financial corruption in China, Italy and Africa lead into a discussion of ‘grand’, ‘political’ and ‘petty’ corruption. With no rulebook, corruption is covert, opportunistic, repetitive and powerful, reliant upon dominance, fear and unspoken codes: a significant component of the ‘quiet violence’.

Iraqi protesters pressed on with angry anti-government rallies in the capital and across several provinces for a fifth day on Saturday, setting government offices on fire and ignoring appeals for calm from political and religious leaders.

The violent deadlock presented the conflict-scarred nation with its most serious challenge since the defeat of the Daesh group two years ago and deepened the political crisis of a country still struggling with the legacy of multiple, unfinished wars since the US invasion in 2003.

Abbas Najm
By email