"A Reporter's Email From Baghdad" on truthout

[LibeMatt]

Just saw this:

URL:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/100304X.shtml

" Little by little, day-by-day, being based in Iraq has defied all those reasons. I am house bound. I leave when I have a very good reason to and a scheduled interview. I avoid going to people's homes and never walk in the streets. I can't go grocery shopping any more, can't eat in restaurants, can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't look for stories, can't drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go to scenes of breaking news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't speak English outside, can't take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't linger at checkpoints, can't be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling. And can't and can't. There has been one too many close calls, including a car bomb so near our house that it blew out all the windows. So now my most pressing concern every day is not to write a kick-ass story but to stay alive and make sure our Iraqi employees stay alive. In Baghdad I am a security personnel first, a reporter second.

<snip>

" Iraqis like to call this mess 'the situation.' When asked 'how are thing?' they reply: 'the situation is very bad."

What they mean by situation is this: the Iraqi government doesn't control most Iraqi cities, there are several car bombs going off each day around the country killing and injuring scores of innocent people, the country's roads are becoming impassable and littered by hundreds of landmines and explosive devices aimed to kill American soldiers, there are assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings. The situation, basically, means a raging barbaric guerilla war. In four days, 110 people died and over 300 got injured in Baghdad alone. The numbers are so shocking that the ministry of health -- which was attempting an exercise of public transparency by releasing the numbers -- has now stopped disclosing them.

<snip>

" I heard an educated Iraqi say today that if Saddam Hussein were allowed to run for elections he would get the majority of the vote. This is truly sad.
<snip>
"

Something tells me that the Shrub-in-Chief will not be serving fake turkey to the troops in Baghdad this Thanksgiving.

np: The Withdrawals--Live

[PoiBoy]

1. An excellent article...

..very heartbreaking to read.... :-( thanks for posting...

[Union Thug]

2. And in fact I did read that Saddam was going to run in the elections...

Here ya go:
http://www.zaman.org/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20040921&hn=12424
-------------------
Saddam to Declare Candidacy for Iraqi Elections


Overthrown Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was arrested by US forces last December, reportedly plans to run as a candidate in the Iraqi elections scheduled for January 2005
------------------

Now, IF Saddam runs and IF he were able to take a majority..can you imnagine the Homer Simpson moment lil' George would have...?? DDDDOOOH!!!!

Oh the dark irony of reality.