"We see the violence daily, the killing, the conflict among the people. It's affected me and my students, especially the students when they see their colleagues kidnapped or killed."
The increase in U.S. troops in Baghdad over the last year has sharply reduced such violence. But the effects of the war on ordinary Iraqis go on and on. They're still haunted by the violence of the past, and almost everyone knows someone -- a family member or friend -- who has been killed or kidnapped.
Almost all of the Baghdad residents who spoke to CNN said the surge has reduced violence, but they also said their capital is barely recognizable. Baghdad is largely chopped into sectarian blocks, each guarded by its own armed force, most supported by the United States. And many Iraqis still don't dare cross sectarian lines.
The power across Baghdad in many neighborhoods only stays on for one to four hours a day, with many residents saying it's worse now than ever before. - CNN
It's a good thing we brought them democracy and freedom, otherwise they'd still be under Saddam, and have evil electricity most of the day.
Posts: 16561 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Be fair, DG.If this progress continues you'll be almost back to how it was immediately before the invasion (if you forget the number of people who would be alive now but aren't) if you give it another , what, ten years?
The American people may have forgotten that the price of democracy is that high. Just as well they don't want to liberate and democratise the peoples of othe nations such as, say, Saudi Arabia. Why don't they liberate Cuba? It would be a pushover compared to other places: it's close, poor, poorly defended, has an old and feeble 'dictator', is communist and, if some Americans are to be believed, would welcome Americans with flowers.
