IRAQ: Baghdad after the battles

It's not often we get the chance to drive through Baghdad at a slow enough speed to see much and take pictures, but the U.S. military recently offered a trip of several houyrs through Shiite areas that had seen fighting during recent battles between Shiite militiamen and Iraqi and U.S. forces.

There were signs of normalcy on many streets -- a little girl dragging a comb through her doll's straw-colored hair, little boys sitting on the side of the road waiting for the convoy to pass so they could resume their soccer game, people shopping, schoolgirls walking home from class.

But even in areas that were not directly hit by battles, the scars of five years of war, and of years of neglect in the decades before the U.S. invasion, are clear. Sheep graze among mountains of trash piled along residential streets lined with neatly kept, split-level homes whose owners no doubt wish for nicer views.

Children's playgrounds sit idle and rusted.

The recent fighting left more than 600 Iraqis dead, and tensions remained high as Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, who said his Mahdi Army militia was unfairly targeted in the fighting, traded accusations. The conflict is sure to figure high on Washington lawmakers' minds this week as they question Gen. David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker about progress on the ground in Iraq. Read more about what the encounter is likely to bring in this story, which ran in Sunday's Times.

A question sure to be asked is how the Iraqi security forces fared in the heat of battle. Publicly, at least, U.S. officials insist they did well, but they admit that the operation should have been planned better before Maliki deployed his forces. One U.S. Army lieutenant colonel said Iraqi forces in his area of operations ran out of ammunition and had to run to nearby battle positions to fetch more.

But as he explained last week, Iraqi forces faced unique problems, such as threats from militia fighters who vowed to kill the soldiers' families if they fired at militiamen.

The Iraqi soldiers on the streets now insisted they had learned from the experience and were ready for the next showdown.

— Tina Susman in Baghdad

P.S. The Los Angeles Times issues a free daily newsletter with the latest headlines from the Middle East, the war in Iraq and the confrontation between the West and Islam. You can subscribe by registering at the website here, logging in here and clicking on the World: Mideast newsletter box here.

Photo credits: Tina Susman

Comments

[alternate view]

Your pride in USA in creating this multitrillion dollar wasteland and multimillion person scene of homelessness, misery, and death with no end in sight (not to mention the continuing and unlawful torture) is misplaced.

Saddam and sons did all this alone in order to consolidate, divide and conquer his own nation. This story is told in all the arab lands. It is the story of dictators and the rule of iron fists.

[quantumottle]

Shawn said:
[i]Those people must be so grateful to us for all we have done for them. I'm sure they don't blame us for destabilizing their country and causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of their friends and family members. What a small price to pay for all that they enjoy now![/i]

Best post I've read on any board all day!

[Henry]

I agree with the preceding comments. It is with pride that I see the accomplishments of this US in creating this multitrillion dollar wasteland and multimillion person scene of homelessness, misery, and death with no end in sight (not to mention the continuing and unlawful torture). I hope that whoever is elected continues this, one the greatest American tragedies ever, for at least another 100 years.

[Mase]

Go get the real story at:

http://iraq.reuters.com/

The guys are are full of BS.

[dan]

My question to all those who say "..get out now.." and "..end this war.." is this: What then? Do you want these Syrian, Iranian and othes walking down your street in the good ole USofA with a vest to blow your neighborhood up? Let's fight these radical extremists while they are coming to us in Iraq instead of turning tail and letting them chase back through non secure borders and we are then fighing in our hometowns. Let the GI's do what they do best and defend us.

[Mr TwelveYearOld]

I'm over 13. Really, I am!

I'd like to know why people in 3D world countries don't pick up the litter in the streets if they don't have jobs?

[Shawn]

Those people must be so grateful to us for all we have done for them. I'm sure they don't blame us for destabilizing their country and causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of their friends and family members. What a small price to pay for all that they enjoy now!

[The Canadian Geezer]

The sadness of the wasteland that is created by the war is evident in almost all photographs coming out of Iraq ... end American involvement in this evil conflict now ... The peolple of Iraq will take decades to try and recover from what was done to them by men of of all 'Cultures' and 'Faiths' - both East and West ... I weep mostly for the children so savaged by such misery brought on by mens egos and reaches for power and wealth.