Iraq Disintegrating, as Usual

Iraq Disintegrating, as Usual
by Dahr Jamail
http://www.antiwar.com/jamail/?articleid=4321

The usual spiral descent in the airplane landed me into a gray day in Baghdad … the weather the same as when I left a few weeks ago. The usual hordes of global mercenaries crowded the airport … where a person isn't allowed to take their carry-on into the bathroom with them for fear of bombs. Keep in mind that the airport is the largest U.S. military base in Iraq.

Then there was the usual joy of waiting at the front checkpoint to be picked up. As usual, Abu Talat had arrived early only to be gridlocked in the nerve-wracking wait in the line of cars to have his car sniffed by dogs for explosives. Standing inside the checkpoint in the small parking area is not my idea of a good time – everyone eyeing one another, wondering if that person is a kidnapper, or if that car in the distance is a bomb.

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The demolition of Fallujah continues. Two of my sources inside the city, who live in different neighborhoods, report that the military is now burning homes. Apparently, they are finding booby traps, so they are piling furniture up in the homes, dousing them with fuel, and burning them.

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Several of my Iraqi friends tell me they expect only about 20 percent of Iraqis to vote. Who could blame them? With the resistance having announced they will be sniping at polling stations during the elections, as well as the high likelihood of suicide car bombers driving into polling stations, better security prior to any type of election would probably bring Iraqis to the polls more than nice billboards.

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He writes about a number of incidents in recent days, the electricity situation in Baghdad, and how things in Iraq just keep getting worse.