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Iraq

Chasing the Mahdi Army through Baghdad's hall of mirrors

2007-07-26

Scott Thomas now writing for France24?

On a searing summer afternoon the streets of the Al-Hurriya neighbourhood in western Baghdad are bustling, the shops are open, the people are smiling and chatting and lounging outside in the shade.

Ask anyone and they will tell you there is complete security in their corner of central Baghdad -- no militias, no insurgents, no worries. But no one calls this a victory for the five-month-old Baghdad security plan, and the US soldiers who police Al-Hurriya are convinced that most of its people are in the grip, or on the payroll, of a shadowy militia.

"The reason they say it's safe is that all the Sunnis they worry about -- neighbours they lived with for generations -- are dead," Lieutenant William Cone of the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne said. "The Mahdi Army will come and beat the hell out of them if they talk."

Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC

#2 Mahdists wear black and carry black flags. That might make them safe at night, but otherwise...

Posted by: Chusomble Wittlesbach1010 2007-07-26 16:11

#1 twas a dark and stormy night...
On a searing summer afternoon the streets of the Al-Hurriya neighbourhood in western Baghdad are bustling, the shops are open, the people are smiling and chatting and lounging outside in the shade.

Scott Thomas - lol. It sounds just like the NPR boiler plate propaganda piece. But it's just not the same without the NPR standard sound effects.
They should automatically load up soothing, culturally appropriate, "mommy is near" type of background music and also allow you to rub over words such as "bustling", "chatting", etc. to access their most common studio sound clips.

Posted by: AT 2007-07-26 05:35

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