If you enjoyed the wonderful, rose-colored view of Iraq that was
plastered across the media last week as Bush made his quick 5-hour
unannounced visit to Iraq, you probably won't want to read this,
which comes from the American Embassy in Iraq.
<http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?
vnu_content_id=1002690071>
( -or- http://tinyurl.com/hk8h3 )
Some highlights (or, more accurately, lowlights):
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-- "Personal safety depends on good relations with the 'neighborhood'
governments, who barricade streets and ward off outsiders. The
central government, our staff says, is not relevant; even local
mukhtars have been displaced or coopted by militias. People no longer
trust most neighbors."
-- Iraqi staff at the embassy, beginning in March and picking up in
May, report "pervasive" harassment from Islamist and/or militia
groups. Cuts in power and rising fuel prices "have diminished the
quality of life." Conditions vary but even upscale neighborhoods
"have visibly deteriorated" and one of them is now described as a
"ghost town."
-- Two of the three female Iraqis in the public affairs office
reported stepped-up harassment since mid-May...."some groups are
pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran even
at its most conservative." One of the women is now wearing a full
abaya after receiving direct threats.
-- It has also become "dangerous" for men to wear shorts in public
and "they no longer allow their children to play outside in shorts."
People who wear jeans in public have also come under attack.
-- Embassy employees are held in such low esteem their work must
remain a secret and they live with constant fear that their cover
will be blown. Of nine staffers, only four have told their families
where they work. They all plan for their possible abductions. No one
takes home their cell phones as this gives them away. One employee
said criticism of the U.S. had grown so severe that most of her
family believes the U.S. "is punishing populations as Saddam did."
-- Since April, the "demeanor" of guards in the Green Zone has
changed, becoming more "militia-like," and some are now "taunting"
embassy personnel or holding up their credentials and saying loudly
that they work in the embassy: "Such information is a death sentence
if overheard by the wrong people." For this reason, some have asked
for press instead of embassy credentials.
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-- Ed Leafe
-- http://leafe.com
-- http://dabodev.com
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