A replica of Hamas emerging in Iraq.

[thepurpose]

Baghdad looks so exhausted these days and so do her people; the relentless violence, the lack of basic services and the scorching heat abolishes human desire to do anything or to even think of anything. In general laziness and wariness is the common feeling in the city.

Even the parliament failed to convene this week because less than 50 MPs showed up. One can also easily notice that traffic on the streets is not as heavy as it used to be and people are getting less interested in talking politics. Well, the harsh conditions and lack of activity could also be seen from the declining number of updates coming from the Iraqi bloggers in general!

Living for many of us was reduced to existence long time ago; dreams and desires are shrinking under the heavy shadows of the situation. The government too looks exhausted trying to face all these crises under pressure from a community that is demanding quick solutions and unwilling to listen to the government's excuses.

<snip>

The militias had sent clear messages to the government that they will not give up easily and probably the latest kidnappings that reached top officials in the government reiterate these messages, it's like telling al-Maliki "No matter what you do we're going to do anything we like, anytime we like and anywhere we like against any target we choose".

The situation isn't nice at all and al-Maliki's cabinet is going to face a very rough summer.

Read the entire post here: http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/

[Cocoa]

1. this is the blog entry that ended up in a security contractor's report

an odd story...

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/07/07/baghdad-report-update/

A daily intelligence brief on Iraq, prepared by a private contractor for the U.S. military and companies working in Iraq, paints a grim picture of life in Baghdad. The daily report for July 7 documents a slew of sectarian attacks and car bombings around the capital and says that “the levels of torture and execution-style killings…illustrate the increasing disregard for human life by the perpetrators for those not of their own grouping.”

But the report, marked “for official use only,” also goes on to describe Baghdad as a city without spirit — in a long passage lifted straight from a popular Iraqi blog called Iraq the Model. “Baghdad looks so exhausted these days and so do her people; the relentless violence, the lack of basic services and the scorching heat abolishes human desire to do anything or to even think of anything,” says the daily report, which is compiled by SOC-SMG Inc., a Nevada-based contractor. The language of this and several other passages mirrors almost exactly a posting for the July 6 edition of Iraq the Model. “Living for many Iraqis was reduced to existence a long time ago; dreams and desires are shrinking under the heavy shadows of the situation.”

The company’s interim CEO, Robert Shields, said he was unaware of the overlap and would look into it. But “we draw information from a variety of sources,” he said. –Neil King Jr.

[applegrove]

2. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.