From his blog site, for a time almost the exclusive source for coverage of the anti-terror protests.

When we were marching on Dec 10 I told Omar that maybe we didn't need to cover the protests after all since it looked like reporters from all the major media agencies were doing so. As you can see in my pictures there were scores of reporters and cameras all over the place. And since the rallies ended in front of the Palestine hotel we thought that it would be impossible for the media to ignore this event. I felt a bit awkward walking along reporters carrying just a little digital camera while they had all the equipment.

The last thing we expected was to be the first to publish anything about the protests. It felt both good and awful at the same time. Good for scooping Reuters, AFP, AP, and other wire services and media stations. And awful for the people that depended on these services for their news. I'm telling you there were reporters from every station in the world at the demos that day and yet only a few mentioned them at all.

Al-Jazeera described the demonstrations as protests against "what is called terrorism" and estimated the number of protestors as 10,000. AFP estimated the number as 200 at first (which made us furious) then later they gave the count as 4,000. While it was very obvious that the protestors were much more than 10,000. The Anti-terrorism Popular Committee stated that there were more than 20,000 demonstrators marching. You can get an idea by this Reuters streaming clip

Imagine if half or even a quarter of that number were demonstrating against the war or against the occupation. What do you think would have happened? Would the media ignore it?
The voice of that old Iraqi Communist shouting to the Arab reporter "For once speak the truth" keeps resounding in my head.

What the media also didn't mention was that there were other similar protests all over Iraq in Najaf, Karbala, Nassiriya, Irbil, Suleimaniya, and even in Sunni cities such as Ramadi, Ba'quba, and Balad on the same day. And these won't be the last. There are many more larger protests planned for the near future.

If the exact date and location of the protests were not so shrouded in secrecy I believe they would have been even larger. But look at it this way, the first demonstration on Nov 28 was attended by several hundred people, on Dec 5 more than a thousand, this time they were between 10,000 to 20,000. Iraqis are getting bolder. And despite the risk of being targetted we felt more safe than ever marching with the others. The IP did a great job of providing protection, and the Americans had two helicopters circling the area.

It was wonderful watching Iraqis from different backgrounds, ethnicities, age groups, and political beliefs all marching for the same cause. Seeing Muslim clerics walking along Communists shouting "No to terrorism, Yes to peace and democracy" was priceless. And no one expected that political parties from the opposition would show up as well.

The marches were apparently well-covered by many reporters. What happened to their stories?

The rally ended in front of the Palestinian Hotel. Press headquarters for the American media.

Remember: unlike the safe anti-war protests in America and Europe, these people have a very real chance of being killed by their opponents while they are marching. And they know it.

Think about that or a while, too.