Iraqis Hold 'Day of Regret'

Iraqi protesters offered a new spin on the “day of rage” meme that’s been sweeping the Middle East. It was one year ago today that the Iraqis elected their leaders, so they instead held a “day of regret,” the Christian Science Monitor reports. Hundreds of protesters marched in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square waving fingers dipped in red ink, as a kind of parody of the purple-stained fingers that marked voters a year ago.

Protesters fault their leaders for failing to provide basic services like electricity or clean water. That’s probably due at least in part to the massive political squabbling that continues to grip the new parliament. This weekend, Ayad Allawi announced that he was pulling his Iraqiya bloc out of Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition, breaking a power-sharing deal that had taken nine months to negotiate. (More Iraqi Parliament stories.)