Sunday, October 29, 2006
Anthony Shadid returns to Baghdad
And the city he sees is a terrible sight. As he describes places and meetings with people he knew during his previous time as a reporter, he describes a descent into the kind of hell we have seen before in Yugoslavia and Lebanon.
It had been almost a year since I was in the Iraqi capital, where I worked as a reporter in the days of Saddam Hussein, the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, and the occupation, guerrilla war and religious resurgence that followed. On my return, it was difficult to grasp how atomized and violent the 1,250-year-old city has become. Even on the worst days, I had always found Baghdad's most redeeming quality to be its resilience, a tenacious refusal among people I met over three years to surrender to the chaos unleashed when the Americans arrived. That resilience is gone, overwhelmed by civil war, anarchy or whatever term could possibly fit. Baghdad now is convulsed by hatred, paralyzed by suspicion; fear has forced many to leave. Carnage its rhythm and despair its mantra, the capital, it seems, no longer embraces life.Despite his belief otherwise, what Our Dear Embattled Leader has done to Baghdad, to Iraq and to its people will be his lasting legacy. And, if he were really the Christian he pretends to be, his lasting shame.
"A city of ghosts," a friend told me, her tone almost funereal.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
Post a Comment