Handover

I have a post on Fahrenheit 9/11 in the works, but I was having trouble finishing it. In the meantime, here are some interesting perspectives that are available on the web from people in Iraq about the handover. Back to Iraq is a blog by a New York Daily News reporter, and he has posted the complete story he filed with them on his blog, describing much ambivalence among Iraqi's about the transfer of power.

Baghdad Burning describes the anxiety that the handover has inspired in lots of people in Iraq. She says:

"Beyond the unsure political situation, I have spent the last few days helping a relative sort things out to leave abroad. It is a depressing situation. My mother's cousin is renting out his house, selling his car and heading out to Amman with his three kids where, he hopes, he will be able to find work. He is a university professor who has had enough of the current situation. He claims that he's tired of worrying about his family and the varying political and security crises every minute of the day. It's a common story these days. It feels like anyone who can, is trying to find a way out before June 30. Last summer, people who hadn't been inside of Iraq for years were clamoring to visit the dear homeland that had been 'liberated' (after which they would clamor to leave the dear homeland). This summer, it is the other way around."

Also, via Baghdad Burning, it has come to my attention that we can read Salam Pax on the web again. The Iraqi Civilian War Casualties site documents the impact the war has had on civilians and includes a link to a log by Salam Pax describing the survey as it was conducted.