Unchecked Lawlessness Stresses Iraqi Society

[maddezmom]

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, May 30, 2004; Page A30


BAGHDAD -- The report of his death found Abdulsemi Janabi in a meeting. His cell phone chirped, and through her sobs his wife told him that a radio station had just reported that his head had been found in one part of Baghdad, his body in another.



Janabi, a dean at Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, assured his wife that he remained in one piece, safe and sound. He was on campus, sitting opposite a group of angry Shiite students demanding a prayer room and an office. In that moment, Janabi decided to take their demands more seriously.

~snip~

Violence, and the fear of it, defined everyday life in occupied Iraq long before the current insurgency. Ambushes, kidnappings and militias -- all the dangers lurking for Western visitors since last month -- emerged as dangers for many of Baghdad's 5 million residents shortly after the city fell in April 2003.

In the months that followed, while car bombs and attacks on U.S. forces grabbed the headlines, a relentless sense of insecurity eroded the patience of Iraqis, 92 percent of whom agreed that "freedom and democracy are meaningless without peace and security," according to a poll conducted in January for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

~snip~
more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1424-2004May29.html

[Nlighten1]

1. No no no...

Would you rather have Saddam still in power? Obviously the Iraqi people are in much better shape today with him gone.

[maddezmom]

2. Exhausted by the Daily Grind, Iraqis Pay Little Heed to Politics

Exhausted by the Daily Grind, Iraqis Pay Little Heed to Politics

By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, May 30, 2004; Page A29


BAGHDAD, May 29 -- From behind trays stacked high with honey-soaked sweets, Dhiya Mohammedawi cracked a shy smile when asked about Ayad Allawi. He had something he wanted to say, all right, but it was not about Iraq's prime minister-designate and his new interim government.



"We're not spending our time worrying about the Governing Council or the prime minister, things like that," said Mohammedawi, looking over a largely deserted counter at Baghdad's renowned Abu Afif Sweet Shop. "What we worry about is electricity, gasoline and that kind of stuff."

Baghdad residents talked Saturday of Allawi's surprise nomination to become prime minister as if it were a distant event, not of their making and not very important in their lives. Keeping private generators humming to bolster the still-faulty electricity network, lining up for hours to top off the gas tank, staying safe among the car bombs and seeking some way to make a living in a country ripped up by war -- these were the priorities they said were on their minds.

When Saddam Hussein was president, Iraqis were used to regarding their government as forbidden territory, a place where only Hussein's family and Baath Party loyalists were allowed to tread. To a large extent, they have retained that outlook during a year of U.S.-led occupation. They feel powerless to affect decisions made in the heavily guarded Green Zone, where American occupation authorities live and work. Conversations on Saturday indicated little expectation that things would change on June 30, when the United States is scheduled to turn over some self-governing authority to Iraqis.

For most people in Baghdad, the daily grind of getting by also leaves little time for anything else.

~snip~
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1637-2004May29.html

[Wright Patman]

3. "When George W. Bush was president, Americans

were used to regarding their government as forbidden territory, a place where only Bush's family and Republican Party loyalists were allowed to tread."

[Voltaire99]

4. Old news. Establishment Post finally catching on?

Robert Fisk reported as much in the Independent several months ago.