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Inside Baghdad

This morning brings news of yet another bombing in Baghdad killing and injuring many - and a march in Washington protesting against the Iraq war and the policies [?] of George Bush.

Whilst the press has articles from time about a specific bombing incident or the TV shows footage of some carnage here or there in Iraq, rarely does one read or see what life is actually like in downtown Baghdad [as it were!].

Writing in The Independent [reproduced on ZNet] Patrick Cockburn says:

"Baghdad is paralysed by fear. Iraqi drivers are terrified of running into impromptu checkpoints where heavily armed men in civilian clothes may drag them out of their cars and kill them for being the wrong religion. Some districts exchange mortar fire every night. This is mayhem beyond the comprehension of George Bush and Tony Blair."

No less importantly....

"It is extraordinary that, almost four years after US forces captured Baghdad, they control so little of it. The outlook for Mr Bush's strategy of driving out insurgents from strongholds and preventing them coming back does not look good."

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