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Protesters in Arab World's Newest Uprisings Face a Long Haul

Associated Press

   Abbas Ali spends most of his free time camped out in Tahrir Square --
   the epicenter of Iraq's anti-government protests -- going home only at
   3 a.m. to catch few hours of sleep, change his clothes and check on his
   family. He is determined to stay in the square until the end, whatever
   that may be.

   Ali was only 13 when the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein. He
   only vaguely remembers life under the dictator. What he knows clearly
   is that life in post-Saddam Iraq is a daily, often humiliating struggle
   for survival.

   The 29-year-old considers himself lucky to have a job, although the pay
   barely covers medical bills for his ailing father and elderly mother.
   His two brothers and sister are unemployed. So are most of his friends.
   He says marriage is the furthest thing from his mind since he couldn't
   possibly afford to start a family.

   Angry at factional, sectarian politicians and clerics he blames for
   stealing Iraq's wealth, Ali embodies the young Iraqis in Baghdad who
   for more than two months have waged a revolt calling for the downfall
   of a hated political class.

   A similar scene is taking place in tiny Lebanon, where for 62 days now,
   young people have protested the political elite in charge since the
   1975-90 civil war, blaming them for pillaging the country to the point
   of bankruptcy.

   The sustained, leaderless protests are unprecedented and have managed
   to bring down the governments of both countries. But they have been
   unable to topple their ruling systems: The same politicians have kept
   their hold, wrangling and stalling over forming new governments and
   ignoring the broader calls for radical reform.

   The standoff gets more dangerous as it draws out, posing the most
   serious existential threat in years -- in Iraq since Saddam's 2003
   ouster and in Lebanon since the civil war's end. Iraq has been plunged
   into yet another cycle of violence with more than 450 protesters killed
   by security forces. Lebanon is on the verge of chaos, with a looming
   economic disaster.