BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 15 — The judge sits in his chambers, waiting.
He is waiting for the United States military to deliver the first batch of prisoners for trial in the newly refurbished criminal court in Kharkh District.
The judge, Nawar Mohammed Nasser, the court's chief justice, has grown accustomed to waiting. He was promised prisoners on Aug. 16. No one showed up. It happened again on Aug. 23, then on Sept. 6 and once more on Sept. 9.
"It's not a problem with the judicial system," said the 53-year-old judge, nattily dressed in a gray suit and a deep gray tie with white polka dots. "It's a problem with the coalition forces.
"If they cannot get prisoners to court at the right time, how can we expect them to run the entire administration, the entire state — to establish a new order in Iraq?"
The question of whether the Americans can transform Iraq is asked with increasing frequency.
Iraqis, in general thrilled to be freed from the long, sinister rule of Saddam Hussein, had high expectations that the arrival of the Americans would utterly transform their lives.
more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/international/middleeast/16IRAQ.html?hp