In Iraq, US influence wanes as full-scale civil war looms

[RedEarth]

– Every day, more violence. And more uncertainty for Iraqis than they have ever known, as they mark three years since American troops invaded. The wave of optimism that once buoyed Iraqis after the fall of Saddam Hussein is now being marked as yet another casualty of the bombs and murders that are part of daily life here.

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But there is a further problem, analysts say, that no amount of US influence can help: The fact that insecurity is so pervasive, that Iraqi leaders and the government meet inside the bubble of the Green Zone, among a labyrinth of 12-foot-high concrete blast walls woven together with coils of concertina wire that keep them safe, as well as isolated.

"The politicians are out of touch with the street, so it is like a group of blind people negotiating," says Rikabi. "They have nothing to do with the Republic of Iraq ... they do not feel a power cut for a second, while outside, is off for 22 hours a day. You can't make the right decision, when the prime minister still has his family in London."

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"Before, people respected the traffic police, there was an organization, a state; today we have the smell, the shadow of a government," says Rikabi. "Before, people would go to restaurants until 2 a.m.; today their lives are full of fear.

"Then, we had one Saddam Hussein," concludes Rikabi. "Today, we have many Saddam Husseins."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0320/p10s01-woiq.html