Baghdad: City of Shrinking Dreams

From The Wall Street Journals Washington Wire: July 7, 2006, 11:45 am Baghdad: City of Shrinking Dreams 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.” The report, marked “for official use only,” also goes on to describe Baghdad as a city without spirit. “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. UPDATE: The "CONTRACTOR" being PAID with YOUR TAX DOLLARS apparently lifted this "INTEL" from a BLOG. From IRAQ THE MODEL A replica of Hamas emerging in Iraq. 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. Unbelievable, the money being wasted on contracting out this "war". From Foreign Policy Seven Questions: Covering Iraq Posted July 5, 2006 Reporting from Iraq has become one of journalism’s most difficult and dangerous jobs. FP spoke recently with Rod Nordland, who served as Newsweek’s Baghdad bureau chief for two years, about the challenge of getting out of the Green Zone to get the scoop. FOREIGN POLICY: Are Americans getting an accurate picture of what’s going on in Iraq? Rod Nordland: It’s a lot worse over here [in Iraq] than is reported. The administration does a great job of managing the news. Just an example: There was a press conference here about [Abu Musab al] Zarqawi’s death, and somebody asked what role [U.S.] Special Forces played in finding Zarqawi. [The official] either denied any role or didn’t answer the question. Somebody pointed out that the president, half an hour earlier, had already acknowledged and thanked the Special Forces for their involvement. They are just not giving very much information here. FP: The Bush administration often complains that the reporting out of Iraq is too negative, yet you say they are managing the news. What’s the real story? RN: You can only manage the news to a certain degree. It is certainly hard to hide the fact that in the third year of this war, Iraqis are only getting electricity for about 5 to 10 percent of the day. Living conditions have gotten so much worse, violence is at an even higher tempo, and the country is on the verge of civil war. The administration has been successful to the extent that most Americans are not aware of just how dire it is and how little progress has been made. They keep talking about how the Iraqi army is doing much better and taking over responsibilities, but for the most part that’s not true. Read More at Foreign Policy