TV show allows Iraqis to voice their anger live

"Baghdadia and the People" is broadcast live across Iraq six mornings a week and replayed at 6 p.m. Its concept is simple. Host Minas Suheil holds a red microphone and Iraqis speak to him and their nation about their suffering, the lack of services, jailed family members, dead children, abuses by Iraq's security forces and a government that still hasn't formed nearly eight months after Iraq's parliamentary elections.

"The anger before the elections was enclosed in hope. Now it is open rage," Suheil said. "This rage will get to a point where it can no longer be controlled. It's dangerous." Despite the considerable shortcomings of democracy in Iraq, over the past few years Iraqis have become emboldened to openly criticize their leaders. More often than not, though, it is to no avail. The nation's government is ranked the fourth most corrupt in the world. Iraq's security forces are infamous for abuses; many prisons are well below international standards; and inmates often are mistreated.