Kudo's to NBC News - Basra, Model City or Police State

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Basra, Iraq: Model city or police state?
Shiite militias tied to Iran control the government


Richard Engel
Correspondent
BASRA, Iraq - Basra seems like a model postwar city. Its streets bustle with life. Its markets are full. Nearby, one of the world's richest oil fields supplies the 1.7 million barrels a day that pass through here.

Less than 2 percent of attacks in Iraq take place in Basra. British troops patrol without helmets.

It might seem like life in Basra is better than ever, but just below the surface there is a darker reality. Shiite fundamentalist politicians now govern Basra and are using their private armies to run the city. They have banned alcohol, forced more women to veil and kidnapped and killed reporters.

The owners of one music store told us the militias threatened to close them down.

“There's no freedom here,” said the shopkeeper. “The militias are the police.”

At a checkpoint a block away, we asked police to respond to the accusation.

“The militias and the police work closely together to protect the people,” an officer said. “And the militias,” he said, “have better intelligence than we do.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285078/