Electronic Iraq : War Every Day (eIraq Blog)

Baghdadophobia--and how to know you've got it

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:57:12 CST

"Here's an interesting new disorder for medical science to investigate," writes an Iraqi employee of the BBC, "Baghdadophobia - an Iraqi's fear of his own capital city."

Iraq in the News: More bombings and what if the securty pact fails?

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:59:22 CST

Some of the day's Iraq stories you may have missed.

A snapshot of Fallujah: Still wrecked, still angry

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:03:52 CST

Not surprisingly, there are still hard feelings towards the United States in Fallujah. Jay Deshmukh, a reporter for AFP, visited the town and writes of a shop owner named Abdullah.

Iraq in the News: Bombings, budget cuts, and an occupation in search of a mandate

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:41:59 CST

Some of the day's Iraq stories you may have missed.

Photo of the Day: Mohammad and Teba on Haifa Street

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:42:23 CST

Photographer Max Becherer's Haifa Street portrait over at the New York Times Baghdad Bureau blog is accompanied by a reflection on a country and conflict he has covered for years.

Photo of the Day: Childhood cut short in Baghdad

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:38:02 CST

The captions to the photo essay that accompanies the recent Los Angeles Times piece on childhood in Sadr City are snapshots enough. View Raheem Salman's powerful photos, sure. But don't miss the story the captions tell.

"They work from dawn until after the moon is high. They are children in size only."

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:30:17 CST

"Bloodshed and years of unrest are harsh teachers, especially in Sadr City, where 30% of children have quit school, according to a Baghdad human resources office. That estimate is probably low. A United Nations report found that 94% of boys in Iraq attend elementary school, but that drops to 44% by high school. For girls, 81% start elementary school; 31% go on to high school."

Photo of the Day: Sandstorm in Baghdad

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:43:05 CST

AP reports: A heavy sandstorm turned Iraq's capital into a pinkish haze Thursday, sending dozens of people to the hospital with respiratory problems and delaying a number of international flights.

"If you don’t have proof your husband died, then there are no benefits from the government"

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:16:11 CST

Reporter Phil Sands of The National has the story of two women who are active in Iraq's "Awakening Councils." The entire story deserves a read, but most striking is the problem of widows in Iraq.

Petraeus' not-exactly-ringing endorsement of "surge" success is part of a pattern

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:03:34 CST

If you missed it, Gen. David Petraeus last week gave a tentative appraisal of the success of the "surge" of U.S. troops he oversaw. "Fragile" was one word he used. "reversible" was another. Reporter Howard LaFranchi sees a pattern of "more cautious" appraisals of the situation in Iraq and highlights the current fragility in the country.

US troops will withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011, or they won't

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:35:44 CST

Perhaps the most important words in the description of the tentative withdrawal agreement are "unless Iraq asks them to stay longer." On its face, this sounds quite consensual. But consent is a tricky thing with an imbalance of power as acute as that between the United States and Iraq.

Islamic group demands end to violence against Christians in Iraq

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:15:34 CST

The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, based in Saudi Arabia, has publicly condemned the attacks that have driven thousands of Iraq Christians from the city of Mosul. Here's an excerpt from the AFP report.

Video of the day: Attacks force Iraqi Christians from their homes

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:12:42 CST

Here's Al Jazeera on the recent violence against Christians in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city. At least 10,000 Iraqi Christians have fled the area since the war. New violence has added to the displaced.

About that budget surplus in Iraq...

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:10:54 CST

We've heard a lot about Iraq's $79 billion budget surplus--which always seems to raise eyebrows but never the question: how exactly has Iraq found itself with a surplus? Iraq's Finance Minister explains.

The daily humiliations of occupation

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:11:46 CST

McClatchy has a blog called Inside Iraq where Iraqi staff members of Baghdad bureau post about their experiences. Here's a very simple snapshot. It's the kind of scene that captures the small tensions and humiliations of occupation.

"If someone like Saddam came back, I'd not only support him, I'd invite him to dinner."

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:53:00 CST

Stories like this one, where Iraqis say in interviews that they'd take a murderous dictator over murderous chaos used to be common. This one is particularly striking.

"The Iraqi judicial system should have jurisdiction over the American soldier. This is the point of difference."

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:47:35 CST

The Times of London has published the transcript of their long interview with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Here's what he said about the "Status of Forces Agreement" between Iraq and the United States:

Anthrax outbreak in the Kurdish region of Iraq

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:31:08 CST

First cholera, now anthrax. The last time Iraq registered the anthrax infection in Iraq was during the Iran-Iraq war in the '80s. Now the health minister of the autonomous Kurdish region is reporting 37 infected Iraqis.

Cautious celebration as blast walls come down

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:12:41 CST

The New York Times has a complicated story of hope and fear on its front page today. On its face, the story about the disassembling of security barriers in neighborhoods hit hard by the sectarian violence of recent years would seem to serve the "surge" evangelists. Which would be fine if it meant that Baghdad was finally safe for its residents.

Baghdad's funeral banners

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:12:25 CST

"The Dalfiyah family mourns the deceased, Mohammed Nafil Akseer al Dalfi, father of Jassim, Qassim, Hashim and Bassim. The funeral will be held at his house in Habibiya in front of the power supply station." This announcement, scrawled in white and yellow Arabic on a black cloth banner, hangs at a busy intersection in a popular shopping district in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood. Reporter Corinne Reilly, with the help of two Iraqi journalists, presents a vivid picture of a city drowning in violence--and funerals.