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Journal correspondents report on evolving conditions in Iraq

Back in Baghdad Where Little Has Changed

By Gina Chon

I just got back to Baghdad after a monthlong break, and it almost feels as though I never left. A rocket or mortar explosion just went off a little while ago, and we gathered in our “safe” room, as usual. It’s strange how quickly you adapt to being back here. I automatically grabbed my phone and walked to the room, as I do whenever there is an attack. There are now big, heavy black sheets of body armor-like material in front of our windows to protect us from flying glass in the event that we are hit. I was grateful for that because my office chair is right in front of one of the large windows in our office, and the other window is next to me.

The fighting that began against the Mahdi Army (or what the U.S. calls “criminal elements” disobeying Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr) before I left is ongoing. As a result, the humanitarian situation in the Sadr City area of Baghdad has worsened. Sadr City was already a poor area of the capital, but the recent clashes have made it difficult to get aid to the people. And many families have been displaced. On Saturday, a hospital was damaged and some Iraqi civilians were wounded when an American missile hit next door, reflecting the difficulties of urban warfare. The U.S. military said it was targeting a command center used by the criminal elements.

At a press conference today, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said the government recognizes the need to rebuild and provide economic aid to Sadr City. But he said the government has been unable to spend all of the $100 million in reconstruction money pledged for Sadr City because of the bad security situation. As the weather grows increasingly hotter, the importance of providing adequate supplies of electricity and clean water becomes even more crucial.

Dabbagh also said the government was forming a committee to probe and find evidence of Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs. That news comes after a delegation of United Iraqi Alliance members of the Iraqi parliament visited Iran last week. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, along with the ministers of defense and interior, will be members of this new committee. The U.S. military has repeatedly said that the extremists involved in the current fighting are aided by Iran, which is accused of providing training and weapons.

He didn’t answer a question about whether a major offensive was coming in Sadr City, but Dabbagh repeatedly said the government had a right to impose the rule of law. “We cannot allow groups outside the government to carry weapons,” Dabbagh said. “This is not possible in any country.”

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