![TOPSHOT - An Iraqi demonstrator with make-up to represent violence takes part in an anti-government march in the center of the southern city of Basra on December 2, 2019. Iraq's rival parties were negotiating the contours of a new government today, after the previous cabinet was brought down by a two-month protest movement demanding more deep-rooted change. / AFP / Hussein FALEH](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/5KDZ34TWY34JIDH7GWL76MIB7Y.jpg?smart=true&auth=b1e2f4961407f3e2f027a95517279828960cb4dc3f79a198d498f08b901f41c3&width=400&height=225)
The Iraqi government’s crackdown on protests has left hundreds dead and thousands injured. AFP
The Iraqi government’s crackdown on protests has left hundreds dead and thousands injured. AFP
A young generation of Iraqis has been let down by its state
Many of them have only ever known their country as one associated with repeated failures to provide basic services