Iraq in October 2003

A Report from the Field Zaid Albanna, EPIC Board of Directors October 2003 In October 2003, EPIC board member Zaid Albanna returned to Baghdad to find his family home in ruins and the city he was born and raised in destroyed. His month long visit in Iraq revealed a frightening security situation and a failing “reconstruction” process. Zaid friends shared tragic stories about the breakdown of law and order, the improper use of lethal force by coalition soldiers, and the growing violence of the insurgency. In Baghdad alone, violent deaths have doubled. And throughout Iraq, hundreds of U.S. soldiers have been killed and more than 9,000 have been medically evacuated. Zaid encountered widespread unemployment as over half of Iraq’s labor force is out of work or under-employed. He witnessed the toll that years of tyranny, sanctions and war has taken on his homeland, leaving many Iraqis impoverished and completely dependent on food rations. Read about Zaid’s journey back to his homeland, and discover the importance of bringing Peace to Iraq through Change at Home. October 6-9: From Amman to Baghdad October 10: Kidnappings and Hostile Takeovers October 11: Theories from Furat and Bassim October 12: Talking with Iraqi Police October 13: The Worth of an Iraqi Civilians Life October 14: The UN Moves Next Door October 15: Iraq’s New Currency October 16: Electricity Outages Abound October 17: The Guard Dog is Released October 18: U.S. Reconstruction - $1,000 Per Screwdriver October 20-21: The Walls of Baghdad October 22: CPA Surrounded October 23: Privatization of Iraq October 24: Searching for Hope October 25: Situation in Al-Shawka October 26: Departing Baghdad October 6-9: From Amman to Baghdad The trip to Baghdad started from Amman, Jordan on October 6 at 4 am. The road connecting Al-Roowaysha (the last city in Jordan) to Baghdad was safe. The signs of the awaiting conditions in Iraq started as we crossed the border. While driving through Jordan my eyes would follow the electric power lines parallel to the road. Once we crossed the border into Iraq the electric power lines ceased to exist. I could only see the tower structures without the power lines. As it turns out, power lines were stolen and stripped for their metal. We were stopped three times on the road by the Iraqi rent-a-cops, who were trained by U.S. security firms, to make sure we were not carrying anything “bad”. I asked the driver if these guards were working around the clock. He replied that no, no one is crazy enough to do this work during the dark. I found out a week later that we were lucky making it in safely since some people we know entered Iraq a couple of days after we did. They were not stopped by any security forces but by highway gangs who robbed them of the money they were carrying. We passed two U.S. military bases, as well as a big one across from Abu-Ghraib prison at the entrance to Baghdad. Arriving to the outskirts of Baghdad was a mild introduction to the actual devastation and suffering the Iraqis have endured. Traffic lights are on, but not working. The traffic police are there only for show; it seems they have no authority to execute the law, and only piss-off the citizens. The trash collected from the streets of Baghdad is burned inside the city, replacing one health hazard by environmental pollution. Everywhere I looked, the cars were all beat up with patched bodies and different color parts. It reminded me of scenes from Cuba in the movie Buena Vista Social Club. As we approached my home, my mom pointed out a known circle (Sahat Al-Wathiq) that I used to walk through to get to my high school. I remember the circle used to be full of tall trees. I could not believe my eyes: all the trees I remembered have been cut and the green has morphed to sand. The big shock was when I got home. My house looked as if it was destroyed by a storm. It was sad to see. This was a true reflection of what has happened to the country as a whole. A couple of good news items: the tap water seems to be fine (high in chlorine but good enough to drink). Bottled water is available to buy for those who can afford it. Most people still boil the tap water. I will have to find a neighborhood that is having some issues with water in order to put the filtration system that I brought to a good use. In addition, electricity seems more available now. It is still cut daily, but only for two hours. I spent the first night chatting with some friends about the situation in Baghdad. You may have heard a story of U.S. soldiers shooting about six civilians or ex-military Iraqis. I have not checked the American news in the past 72 hours, and am not sure what you were told. One friend was at the scene and here is the story: There was a line for the ex-military to collect their paychecks. One person broke through the payment line to get a better place. A U.S. soldier grabbed the person out of line and threw him out. A fight broke out between the two. A backup U.S. soldier started shooting his gun in the air. The quarrel dispersed. Moments later, the same person came back to take an advanced spot in the payment line. The same soldier threw him out again. Another fight broke out, but this time the man’s friends got into quarrel and tackled the soldier. The backup soldier, who earlier had fired his gun in the air, decided this time to shoot at and kill all six Iraqis who were part of the fight. This story is a good example of the security in the city, and the inability of the U.S. forces to conduct civil peacekeeping duties. Apache helicopters were regularly flying over my neighborhood at night. The general feeling, however, is that there is more security now relative to the first days after Baghdad fell to the Americans. Nevertheless, the current level of security is far from the level that people are seeking. The curfew now runs from midnight to 3 am, whereas it was between 11 pm to 4 am last week. The next day, I took a cab to the office of one of the NGOs and met with the team there. After the meeting, I took a walk on Abi-Nuas street that is parallel to Dijlah (Tigris river)[1]. I walked by the Iraqi Communist Party Headquarters; everyone outside the office was equipped with handguns and machine guns. Speaking of guns, the previous administration seems to have made an effort to distribute weapons to most tribes, churches, mosques, and even to schools. Everyone in Iraq is equipped with these weapons; including my house. The weapons are easy to obtain because they are abundantly available on the black market. As I continued my walk on Abi-Nuas street, I passed by the Sheraton-Ishtar Hotel and then the Meridian-Palestine hotel (which was shelled during the invasion). Two huge concrete walls surround the hotels (I would not be surprised if they were imported from Israel). Then I walked all the way back to the National Theater. The conditions on the streets are sad; the roads are dirty despite the money that is being paid to street cleaners ($3/day or 6000 Dinars/day). The roads and sidewalks are in horrible shape, as army tanks make regular rounds in the streets. It is common to see abandoned stores that now serve as homes for some families. I stopped by a store to buy a power strip, but after finding what I needed, the man in the store rejected my Iraqi Dinars claiming that they “looked fake”. There are many money exchangers on the streets that may be giving out counterfeit currency. The local industry is being hurt by the tariff-free imports of goods, by the sidestepping of Iraqi companies for contract allocations, by the lack of security, and by the lack of electricity. Instead, the CPA and Bechtel are favoring other Arab and foreign companies over Iraqi ones. I am starting to understand the general feeling here and it seems to map with the conflicting reports I have been hearing. Simply put, the entire population views this change as a potentially good one. However, if this change/dream does not materialize very soon, I fear the reality check for the people will be too hard. It is common knowledge that all the ministries are open now, but they do not have any power to enforce anything without the permission of the “President”, as Paul Bremer has been nicknamed in Baghdad. A tank just passed by my house, now I can go to sleep. The theory on the streets of Baghdad is: The reason the allied forces did not take Saddam out in 1991 is that they would have had to divide the profits with 26 other countries. In 2003, they only have to split with England. October 10: Kidnappings and Hostile Takeovers I spent the day visiting relatives and family, particularly those that I could not reach during the war. I am glad to say that they are all physically fine. The UN section responsible for non-Iraqi refugees inside Iraq moved to the end of the street where my house is. Considering the recent attacks on the UN, this isn’t very comforting. Saturday promises to be an interesting day. Already in the early morning, I can hear airplanes and gunfire from afar, along with the morning prayers in the background. Nearby gunshots have interrupted every night of my stay so far. The looting that was briefly covered in the U.S. media has now morphed into organized crime in Baghdad and its surroundings. Criminals study their targeted victims based on the 'potential' income they make. For example, the owner of a nearby supermarket (Aswaq Al-Wathiq) was kidnapped 2 weeks ago. The kidnappers asked for a ransom. Just yesterday, I saw a black banner with his name on it indicating he is missing. Another form of crime is the increase in hostile business takeovers from the Christian minority by death threats. For example, a cousin of our neighbor who owned a convenience store in an area called 'Baghdad Al-Jideeda' received death threat letters that forced him to sell the shop and move elsewhere. On a side note: one of our neighbors just acquired a whining dog. This is annoying the hell out of me. October 11: Theories from Furat and Bassim I took off on a mission to distribute some pictures of Iraqis taken by a friend. I took a taxi to the center of the city; the discussion with the driver, Furat, was political. As an Iraqi, he felt more comfortable now that the government has been changed, but could not help noting that the people who helped change the leadership in Iraq are the same ones that supported it for over 40 years. Interestingly, he thinks that Saddam was a Zionist because he did everything to weaken the infrastructure of the country from economic to military aspects. In Furat's opinion, Saddam does not mean the Baath party. He favored the conditions in Iraq between 1974-1979. During that period, the country had an economic boom in all sectors. By 1979, Iraq had only 3 percent illiteracy by the UN standards. Furat expected the U.S. to help get rid of Saddam, and help bring Iraq back on its feet. He feels, however, that a big part of these expectations have not been met yet. Bassim, a retired major in the Iraqi air force, spent about an hour or two talking with me about the situation and about the potential solutions. Bassim thinks that an initial military solution with a migration plan towards a civil democratic form of government is needed to fix all potential ethnic/religious conflicts. He feels that the U.S. is playing the 'where is Saddam?' game to distract attention from some of the current events that are designed to create conflicts between the religious groups in Iraq. He also recognizes that the tribes and the religious leaders in Iraq are waiting to see if the U.S. makes progress in its efforts to help Iraqis determine their own destiny. Bassim says the U.S. has six more months to show that it is successful. Not sure what will happen after that, but it does not sound good. The stupid poodle is gone; I will sleep like a baby tonight. October 12: Talking with Iraqi Police The most frequent question I get here from friends and family is "Zaid, how do you find Baghdad?" So far, my answer has been, "I am still absorbing." Today was interesting since it became obvious that the longer I stay in Baghdad the more my impression will change. In the morning, I went with friends to visit some police stations. The purpose of the visit was to inquire about the increase or decrease in security levels around Baghdad. We started out with the police headquarters of the Karkh area.[2] The Chief of the station is a major who received us in his office. He has 13 years of police experience. We enjoyed talking with him. Here are some of the observations discussed: The police department leadership and the ministry of the interior in Iraq have no power. They cannot arrest and keep people in jail to be prosecuted. The Americans release outlaws arrested by the police force on the same day based on the ‘American’ process. About 3000 police officers in this division have only 800 guns with no ammunition. The U.S. occupying force controls equipment purchases. One can get a gun from the black market in Baghdad for about $500 with ammunition. The cost of the same gun purchased by the U.S. is $2500 without ammunition. The guns purchased by the U.S. are different from what the police officers have used in the past. They are less safe and are the type used more by assassins. Safe use of these weapons will require about 3-6 months of training. The placement of the prisoners is controlled by the U.S. Therefore, if the Iraqi police catch a criminal on a street in the Al-Karkh area, the U.S. might place him, and has done exactly that, in a prison in Basra. This renders prosecuting the criminal useless, since the local police do not have the authority nor the means to bring the prisoner back to Baghdad. This is because the old police structure linking all the cities in Iraq has been dissolved by the U.S. In the Al-Bayaa' area, for example, there is an estimate that the number of cases to be prosecuted per week were about 30 or so before the war. After the war, and for the past six months, the total number has been 17 only. Unqualified U.S. soldiers are in control. The occupation Authority placed these soldiers for the sole purpose of protecting the police stations. These unqualified U.S. soldiers administer and control - rather than simply protect - some of the police stations. They force the Iraqi police to follow a diluted form of the American law system. Even a stronger representation of the American law system would not work in Iraq due to vast cultural and social differences. The police station where we were meeting with the major was created as a result of a request made to the CPA. The major asked the CPA to provide 30 men, chosen by him, to help run the office. The CPA agreed but refused to provide protection without controlling the decision making process. We left the Major’s office to get some tea. We went to a small 'gehhwa' (Iraqi coffee shop) around Al-Nasser circle. As we were sipping good Iraqi tea, two explosions occurred near Baghdad hotel six blocks away from us. The sound and the smoke were a wake up call to what the situation is really like in Baghdad. As is known here, the CIA and the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) used the Sheraton Hotel as their headquarters at the start of the war. Then they moved to the Eagle Hotel, where a bomb explosion about a month ago forced them to leave for another hotel, the Baghdad Hotel. You could see the faces of the people around us change once the bomb exploded. The U.S. military vehicles were everywhere. The roads were blocked, and traffic was jammed. There are many little wars happening here, and the average Iraqi avoids any area that has a U.S. presence since they are an open target to anyone that wants to do any damage. Our driver said that the scariest thing for him is to be stuck in traffic next to a U.S. military vehicle. It is ironic how the U.S. accused the previous government of using civilians as human shields, while at the same time the U.S. military is now exposing the Iraqi civilians to more danger by creating an obvious presence in the heavily populated areas of Baghdad. In addition to that, once a U.S. military convoy is attacked, the convoy blindly opens fire 360 degrees that gets most civilians within proximity. So the bomb did not stop us. I went to help some friends with translations, and then went home. I hope to visit some hospitals tomorrow. Based on a conversation my mom had today with a pharmacist friend, medicine has been available for the last six months, due to the large amounts of medicine stored by the government before the war. But now a new wave of medicine needs is appearing on the horizon. I am not complaining, but the stupid electricity is still unavailable, since we are getting it 2 hours on and 3 hours off through out the freaking day. This means we cannot have the fridge on long enough to keep our food cool. In addition, the phone services are still unavailable in the 71 area code. Moreover, the water pressure is so bad that we need a water pump to send the water to the water tank on top of the house.[3] October 13: The Worth of an Iraqi Civilians Life These are more reports from neighbors on organized kidnapping and stealing, targeting those that are known to have money and those that work in the liquor business. I am working on translating a letter from Arabic to English to present to the U.S. military authority. The subject is the case of Mazen. Mazen was an innocent bystander who was shot by the occupation forces for no reason. The Americans have no due process for the native Iraqis. The alternative is to present petitions in English hoping that the Authority will hear their case (though most Iraqis speak only Arabic). The occupation must quickly adopt a process to provide justice when U.S. soldiers vs. locals are involved. The current situation has neither the dimension of justice nor the American ideal of due process. Apparently, the worth of an Iraqi civilian’s life is $10,000 - this is the amount of money the CPA is willing to pay the affected families, if it decides the death was a mistake. There have been a few more explosions, including one near the Al-Dawa party headquarters. There seem to be at least two patterns to the bombings. One is against U.S. establishments (example: the Baghdad hotel attack on CIA headquarters referred to above) and another that falls under the divide and conquer strategy. The theory of the day in the streets of Baghdad: Eyewitnesses state that a missile passed by their houses from Baghdad’s airport on the way to the UN building seconds before its destruction last month. October 14: The UN Moves Next Door It is common to hear blasts similar in strength to the one that hit the Baghdad Hotel throughout the city. It is also common to hear machine gun fire late at night. One typically does not know where these explosions are taking place, since everyone is afraid of checking stuff out. I heard two blasts today but was unable to see any smoke from the roof of my house. Tonight was interesting for two reasons: The first reason is that there were relatively frequent trips made by U.S. jets from the south to the north/north west. I hope that the next few weeks will tell us. The second is that throughout the past week, a new building at the end of our street is being used by a UN branch that is responsible for non-Iraqi refugees in Iraq. Therefore, everyone in the neighborhood is anticipating another UN tragedy. These fears were confirmed tonight when we were stopped by a U.S. tank and a military vehicle for a random check, when we tried to pass by the building on our way home. Now consider this: there was no electricity, no streetlights, and we could have easily missed the checkpoint. This would have resulted in the soldiers firing at us just for trying to get to our house. October 15: Iraq’s New Currency Today tanks and hummers were everywhere, near almost every bank and school. The claim was that there was a threat to all schools and banks, since today marked the introduction of the new currency. Naturally, nothing happens when it is so expected. Still, schools were all closed and classes were cancelled. October 16: Electricity Outages Abound Met with some neighbors who are in the Iraqi army, I am looking forward to this week where I can stop by and hear stories that were not covered in any press. The myth of improvement in living conditions is just that, a myth. Someone has figured out that by changing the schedule at which the electricity is cut off, they can give the indication that situation is improving. So today, we get 2 hours on and 4 hours off; before that we had 3 hours on and 3 hours off. Tomorrow we may get 4 hours on and 2 off, so that we will hope that things are getting better, but they are not. I scheduled appointments with some school administrators in the area for next week. I also hope to speak with someone about the unemployment conditions next week. October 17: The Guard Dog is Released A common wish among Baghdadis is for cloudy days in this hot weather. Today was a cloudy day. When electricity went off this evening, I heard bullets being fired in my street. My mom quickly went into 'protection mode'. She locked all four locks on each door. She lit candles and placed them strategically inside the house. She released the guard dog from his leash. I went up to the roof to see if there was anything happening in the street, but I quickly realized that I could be an easy target, so I went back inside. I am quickly reaching the conclusion that this is not a 'better' condition for Iraqis here, and Bush and Bremer need a reality check. Another theory on the street: Unconventional weapons accomplished the quick victory at the Saddam airport. October 18: U.S. Reconstruction - $1000 Per Screwdriver Brought to you by Enron, “we know how to turn the lights off for you”. Power is still not back on and phones are still out. This sucks. Security is still a dream for most Baghdad residents who commonly hear explosions and gunshots. One sees traffic police officers around the streets doing one of two things: 1) watching cars break the traffic laws (like going against traffic on a one-way street); or, 2) acting as traffic lights (since most of the lights are not working properly either). It is worth noting that this crazy congestion is partially due to roadblocks set up by the military forces. These cause the traffic to be rerouted into fewer pathways that quickly become swollen. A little more on safety: parents still wait for kids outside schools, and some parents are still keeping their kids out of school. You can feel safe driving a new car in Baghdad if you are heavily armed or you have just stolen the new car. The kidnapping of known wealthy people or their relatives for tens of thousands of dollars happens on a regular basis. Yonan, the son of the owner of the famous Abu-Yonana hamburger place in Baghdad, was kidnapped this week and a ransom of $100,000 has been asked of the family. Crime, as I stated earlier is getting more organized and targeted. For example, my cousin has an electric supply store in the Karada; he often has to get his goods and parts from a distributor in the Bab-Al-Shargee. His regular trips there with money for purchases make him a target for looting and stealing. He described one incident over there when a number of merchants had their goods out on the sidewalks of the street. A few thieves shot a number of rounds into the air, causing everyone to think that there was a gunfight in progress. People started fleeing the area, leaving all the goods on the sidewalks available for the thieves to collect. My cousin takes random paths every time he needs to go to Bab-Al-Shargee. This is during daytime. There are no credit cards that he can use instead of cash. I often hear a comparison between the situation now and the situation after the 1991 gulf war. Most people here will tell you that in 1991 the government was able to restore most damaged infrastructure in 45 days under Saddam's government, while it is taking the U.S. over 6 months. The rebuilding by occupation situation is becoming less of a favorite and anti-occupation feelings are growing mainly due to promises that have not been met (i.e. restored security, electricity, water, phone, improved economy). There is so much help needed here I feel ashamed for taking only a month off to be here. I met with some schools that are undergoing renovation efforts. Well, let me rephrase. The renovation efforts are proving to be more like the Pentagon style projects that we often hear about. For example, projects allocating and paying $1000 for a screwdriver. In one case, in Al-Sassiriyah, a school is being renovated and painted for a price tag between $40,000 and $60,000. The contractors are Spanish or Italian companies, using non-Iraqi workers. The problem here is that the locals are watching this and wondering why so much money is being paid, when it can be done locally for about a tenth of the cost! It is obvious that the Iraqis are in for sticker shock when they find out how much deeper in debt the country will be when the reconstruction game is done with. There are some genuine efforts being made by a few NGOS on the ground in Baghdad to help with the situation. However, the problems are much bigger than what the NGOS can handle at this time. I met with a few of them that are working hard at improving things on the local level, by conducting small projects. They asked me to “please put a call out to all the Iraqis you know abroad, that they need to start chipping in to help.” I hope a more formal request will be circulating soon. As for NGOs to contribute to, I am still working on compiling that info. The CPA has created a complicated process for Iraqi NGOs to be certified. This is partly because the concept of (non-religious) Iraqi NGOs did not truly exist before. I will update the list on that. It is urgent that the Iraqi Diaspora reaches out to their families, old friends, and the entire street they were from in Iraq. One does not need an NGO for that, and any positive effort will increase the hope level for the people in Iraq. October 20-21: The Walls of Baghdad On the night of the 20th, we heard five big explosions but no one knew where the strikes occurred. This is becoming a common thing. On the night of the 21st one big bombing sound was heard, again no knowledge where it was. I am not sure the Iraqi news network is keeping track of all this; maybe they are, but the news is being broadcast when the electricity is off. You may have heard that the food rationing (Oil for Food Program) might be terminated by the end of this year. If that happens, with the prices of food in Iraq going up, expect more violence and more desperado acts, since there are still many people depending on the rations to live (the guesstimated number is 60% of the population). The rainy winter in Baghdad will be bringing some interesting and smelly sewage problems in many parts of the city. The rainy season starts in November and goes until the end of February. China's Great Wall competition: the new government organizations, hotels that house foreign nationals, and other institutional buildings are now surrounded by 15-18 feet high concrete walls. These are situated about 24-48 feet away from the main entrances of these buildings and extend out into the streets. The walls are affecting car traffic on the main streets and are forcing pedestrians to walk right next to the traffic. This exposes pedestrians to the crazy drivers in Baghdad. If there is time, I hope to figure out how close the collective lengths of these walls are to the Great Wall of China. More street theory of the day: The airport victory happened in two stages. After the first U.S. penetration of the airport, the Iraqi forces had them caught in a firetrap since the airport was surrounded by oil/gasoline. The U.S., considering this to be an unconventional use of military resources, fired a form of WMD on the Iraqi army in and near the airport, melting most of them. After that, the airport was closed for two months for clean up! October 22: CPA Surrounded Again, the usual: bombing sounds, gunfire, no electricity, increases in gas prices, more concrete walls, and 77-company. 77-company is a Turkish company with an office in Arbil, Iraq. They have been supplying the CPA and the military with large, about 15-18 foot long concrete blocks. I touched on these walls earlier. Well, the walls are growing in length, and it may be a fun idea to try to extend these walls to the great wall of the China. More seriously though, each of these blocks has an estimated price tag of $600, and there are thousands of them. The entire CPA palace in Baghdad is surrounded by these blocks, not to mention hotels, embassies, ministries, police stations, etc. I wonder if this is accounted as a part of the 7-8 billion dollars of aid from the U.S. to Turkey. Moreover, I wonder if the 7-8 billion aid dollars are added to the Iraqi debt. October 23: Privatization of Iraq Today, I met with some representatives of the Iraqi telecommunications company. It is sad to see how existing Iraqi organizations are being ignored as a part of the reconstruction efforts. For example, the Iraqi telecommunications company was not allowed to bid on the mobile project that is going to invade Iraq in the next months. Instead, the contract was given to Kuwaiti and Egyptian companies that have an Iraqi company front. Look up article 12 of the CPA mandate, which, according to the source, gives the CPA the right to privatize certain aspects of Iraq - if not all. The budgets of most ministries are controlled by the CPA, which is not allocating funds in a timely fashion to maintain normal operations. I happened to overhear a phone conversation that amounted to the fact that August funds had still not been cashed, because there was no CPA account to cash the checks against. On top of all that, the CPA’s own budget is secret. October 24: Searching for Hope I spent this day re-energizing my hope by trying to find a glimpse of hope through family and friends. I must say one gets more sharp impressions of the situation through these social gatherings. I spent about 2-3 hours trying to convince my cousin that technology is not what makes a society and that a hi-tech society has many issues as well. One cannot ignore the thirst for safety, security, and stability when conversing with Iraqis. Something sad and dangerous is recognized in Iraqi society and the oppressed Arab societies in general. This 'thing' is an impression that Arabs are less capable, have no potential, or even hope of creating a productive, stable society. The lack of a role model for open Arab society seems to be one of the reasons for that. Another reason is the West’s attitude in extending assistance; the perfect example is the CPA’s total control of the affairs in Iraq and the lack of will to trust the locals with any task. I think this is also a great opportunity for the Arab, and specifically Iraqi, Diaspora to make a positive contribution toward their societies of origin. The people of Baghdad need emotional support as much as they need expertise and financial support. A major dilemma is that the CPA has not shown good intentions towards the Iraqi public, and the only possible way to help the public is through the CPA. But the minute an Iraqi cooperates with the CPA, regardless of intentions, he/she is labeled as a potential American agent. More on that later…. Oh, I almost forgot the IMN – the U.S. backed Iraqi Media Network. Wow, what can I say about the new voice of Iraq? I am talking news only here, since I am not sure what value the entertainment portions of the IMN programs hold to the average Iraqi now. First things first: the name IMN (in English) actually appears as the station logo throughout their programs. This is not bad, except for the fact that the Arabic name of IMN does not appear anywhere. Second, the news focuses on highlighting positive CPA news and not on the urgent local issues such as security, bombings, electricity. Schools were touched upon but not in details. October 25: Situation in Al-Shawka I visited several homes that are housing poor families in the Al-Shawka area in Baghdad. The section I visited has approximately 13,000 families. Most of these families live in poverty; one of the many upcoming problems that these families are getting ready to face is the rainy season in Baghdad. Sewage systems are backed up and overflow into the homes. Most of these homes have washing rooms and kitchens in the same small corner, and with the rise of the gas prices after the war, they have shifted their cooking and heating from gas to oil. Several of these families are not able to pay their rent, so locals and neighbors are chipping in to help. But naturally that is not enough. October 26: Departing Baghdad I spent my time trying to pack and finalize some contacts with friends. Getting ready to leave was hard, especially on the Iraqis that are living there who cannot obtain visas outside Iraq now. It was like leaving a friend in-need. Naturally, packing in the dark with the silly electricity going on and off was a challenge. I must say that I will miss the match and the candle that I constantly carried in my pocket in case the electricity went out. On our way out of Baghdad, we passed by the Al-Rashid hotel (U.S. headquarters in Baghdad where Paul Wolfowitz was staying) just a little before the attacks started that morning. I was filming our Baghdad exit and I could have caught the attack on tape. More theory – from the streets of America: The war is over, reconstruction of Iraq is going well, and security is fine. Reality – from the streets of Baghdad: The war is not over, reconstruction is failing and security is not fine. [1] Dijlah (Tigris) is one of the two large rivers that run through Iraq which forms the Mesopotamia. The other river is called Al-Furat (Euphrates) which does not run through Baghdad. Iraq is full of several other sizable but smaller rivers like: Dayala, AlZab AlKaber, AlZab AlSaqher, etc. [2] Baghdad has two main areas: East of the Tigris River (Dijlah) which is called Risafa; and, west of the river the area that is called Karkh. [3] Because of water pressure fluctuations over the years, most homes in cities of Iraq have a water tank on top of the roof that that ensure continued availability with reasonable pressure.