Hard Lives In Iraq As Usual Borzou

Hard Lives in Iraq

As usual, Borzou Daragahi does an excellent job in reporting from Iraq on the ground (he is only “embedded” in Iraqi society). He presents snapshots of several living, breathing Iraqis, both members of various elites and ordinary people. His is one of the first extended sketches of a female member of the Interim Governing Council, and another of his subjects is a clerical follower of Muqtada al-Sadr. His moving portraits were picked up by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at

http://www.post-gazette.com/

pg/03257/221775.stm

His article complements one by Ewa Jasiewicz that appeared a couple of weeks ago, and has very interesting comments on the problematic position of women and the women’s movement in Iraq now. See

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/

Sept2003/x-sept2003-iraqfire.html

Also, the latest Baghdad Bulletin is out, with an article dated a couple of weeks ago by Rosie Garthwaite on the myth that Basra under the British is better run or somehow more liveable than Baghdad. She says that despite the lack of a formal curfew, the streets empty frequently on rumors of firefights, and security and services are abysmal. See

http://www.baghdadbulletin.com/page

Article.php?article_id=158&cat_id=1