"Some Iraqis wax nostalgic for Saddam's law and order".....

[leftchick]

~snip~

Worse, there is a sense of fear and chaos in the air, a feeling of powerlessness that leads to a kind of apathy. At an Iraqi dinner table the talk turned to which neighborhoods are worse in terms of criminality and kidnappings, the cottage industries of the new Baghdad.

~snip~

There is a sort of pre-emptive ethnic cleansing going on as people move out of neighborhoods and relocate to avoid hostility, be it Shi'a, Sunni, or Kurd.

Make no mistake. There was plenty of fear in the days of Saddam, who ruled by intimidation. Many Baghdadis, especially Shiites, are quick to tell you how they suffered and say we should have already hanged Saddam. But this intrusive insecurity in ordinary life is wearing people down. President Bush said Iraqi lives were going to get a whole lot better, but that day never seems to come, and it is depressing to hear some Iraqis wax nostalgic for Saddam's law and order.

Iraqi politicians live in guarded compounds to protect themselves, not only from insurgents, but from each other. The assassin's hand is never far, and death squads of one faction or another roam the city. Sometimes they are disguised as the police. Sometimes they are the police.

... indeed, it is depressing. :(

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=415579&category=OPINION&newsdate=11/3/2005

[NJCher]

1. ignorance and inttentiveness on the part of American voters

Is in large part what caused this miserable mess for the Iraqis. George bush is not only a disaster for America, he is a disaster for Iraqis and for the world.

I cannot imagine the bitterness I would feel if someone came from another country and did what we've done to the Iraqis.




Cher

[Nickster]

2. It was just a matter of time before we started to hear stories like this

Why wouldn't they rather live under an oppressive dictator, considering the option we gave them?

[Callalily]

3. Oh, this is nothing new.

Read Anne Garrels' "Naked in Baghdad". Excellent book! Her narrative starts in 2002 and then already we were unwanted. Also, outstanding coverage from the days leading up to our invasion of Iraq and following weeks.

[leftchick]

4. I was thinking of that as I read this...

the first three paragraphs sound exactly like what I read in 2003 from her.