Days of fear, days of horror (Iraq)

[Renew Deal]

In Iraq, Ordinary Life is Intensely Tense

It's one of those days in the Iraqi capital when the sounds of explosions shake you awake early in the morning and the rumble of tanks and screech of helicopters keep you up late into the night.

On days like this, American soldiers and private security guards point their gun nozzles just a little higher, and ordinary Iraqis—as well as foreign civilians like me—keep their heads down just a little lower. On days like this, emergency rooms fill up while commercial strips empty out.

Even the most optimistic boosters begin doubting whether postwar Iraq can find its way past democratic elections in January to peace and prosperity any time soon.

"We warned the Americans before they came that Iraq would not be easy, that they should learn more about the country before they came here," says Professor Ahlam Adnan al Jabbari, of Baghdad's Islamic University. "Now we're in a situation where if they stay, there will be violence, and if they leave, there will be violence."
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http://longislandpress.com/v02/i37040916/coverstory_01.asp

[Inland]

1. No, nobody could have ever predicted this

Complete surprise, who'da thought, nobody warned Bush, everyone was for the war, nobody had any doubts.