George Bush's Iraq

[tristano's ghost]

This is freedom on the march? What 2500+ Americans and counting have died for? It's a U.S. memo from the Green Zone that the WaPo got a hold of:

'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

By Greg Mitchell

Published: June 18, 2006 6:20 PM ET

NEW YORK The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says shows that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees."

This cable outlines, the Post reported Sunday, "the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded international zone: harassment, threats and the employees' constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government."

It's actually far worse than that, as the details published below indicate, which include references to abductions, threats to women's rights, and "ethnic cleansing."

A PDF copy of the cable shows that it was sent to the SecState in Washington, D.C. from "AMEmbassy Baghdad" on June 6. The typed name at the very bottom is Khalilzad -- the name of the U.S. Ambassador, though it is not known if this means he wrote the memo or merely approved it.

The subject of the memo is: "Snapshots from the Office -- Public Affairs Staff Show Strains of Social Discord."

As a footnote in one of the 23 sections, the embassy relates, "An Arab newspaper editor told us he is preparing an extensive survey of ethnic cleansing, which he said is taking place in almost every Iraqi province, as political parties and their militiast are seemingly engaged in tit-for-tat reprisals all over Iraq."

Among the other troubling reports:

-- "Personal safety depends on good relations with the 'neighborhood' governments, who barricade streets and ward off outsiders. The central government, our staff says, is not relevant; even local mukhtars have been displaced or coopted by militias. People no longer trust most neighbors."

-- One embassy employee had a brother-in-law kidnapped. Another received a death threat, and then fled the country with her family.

-- Iraqi staff at the embassy, beginning in March and picking up in May, report "pervasive" harassment from Islamist and/or militia groups. Cuts in power and rising fuel prices "have diminished the quality of life." Conditions vary but even upscale neighborhoods "have visibly deteriorated" and one of them is now described as a "ghost town."

-- Two of the three female Iraqis in the public affairs office reported stepped-up harassment since mid-May...."some groups are pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran even at its most conservative." One of the women is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats.

-- It has also become "dangerous" for men to wear shorts in public and "they no longer allow their children to play outside in shorts." People who wear jeans in public have also come under attack.

-- Embassy employees are held in such low esteem their work must remain a secret and they live with constant fear that their cover will be blown. Of nine staffers, only four have told their families where they work. They all plan for their possible abductions. No one takes home their cell phones as this gives them away. One employee said criticism of the U.S. had grown so severe that most of her family believes the U.S. "is punishing populations as Saddam did."

-- Since April, the "demeanor" of guards in the Green Zone has changed, becoming more "militia-like," and some are now "taunting" embassy personnel or holding up their credentials and saying loudly that they work in the embassy: "Such information is a death sentence if overheard by the wrong people." For this reason, some have asked for press instead of embassy credentials.

-- "For at least six months, we have not been able to use any local staff members for translation at on-camera press events....We cannot call employees in on weekends or holidays without blowing their 'cover.'"

-- "More recently, we have begun shredding documents printed out that show local staff surnames. In March, a few staff members approached us to ask what provisions would we make for them if we evacuate."

-- The overall environment is one of "frayed social networks," with frequent actual or perceived insults. None of this is helped by lack of electricity. "One colleague told us he feels 'defeated' by circumstances, citing his example of being unable to help his two-year-old son who has asthma and cannot sleep in stifling heat," which is now reaching 115 degrees.

-- "Another employee tell us that life outside the Green Zone has become 'emotionally draining.' He lives in a mostly Shiite area and claims to attend a funeral 'every evening.'"

-- Fuel lines have grown so long that one staffer spent 12 hours in line on his day off. "Employees all confirm that by the last week of May, they were getting one hour of power for every six hours without. ... One staff member reported that a friend lives in a building that houses a new minister; within 24 hours of his appointment, her building had city power 24 hours a day."

-- The cable concludes that employees' "personal fears are reinforcing divisive sectarian or ethnic channels, despite talk of reconciliation by officials."

[Coda]

So you post an article by the editor of truthout.org and try to make it seem like it's journalism. Sorry, this doesn't pass the smell test.

Hey, here's a nice write-up on another one of truthout.org's top journalists - this time from the Washington Post:

My Unwitting Role in the Rove 'Scoop'

By Joe Lauria
Sunday, June 18, 2006; B02

The May 13 story on the Web site Truthout.org was explosive: Presidential adviser Karl Rove had been indicted by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald in connection with his role in leaking CIA officer Valerie Plame's name to the media, it blared. The report set off hysteria on the Internet, and the mainstream media scrambled to nail it down. Only . . . it wasn't true.

As we learned last week, Rove isn't being indicted, and the supposed Truthout scoop by reporter Jason Leopold was wildly off the mark. It was but the latest installment in the tale of a troubled young reporter with a history of drug addiction whose aggressive disregard for the rules ended up embroiling me in a bizarre escapade -- and raised serious questions about journalistic ethics.

In his nine-year reporting career, Leopold has managed, despite his drug abuse and a run-in with the law, to work with such big-time news organizations as the Los Angeles Times, Dow Jones Newswire and Salon. He broke some bona fide stories on the Enron scandal and the CIA leak investigation. But in every job, something always went wrong, and he got the sack. Finally, he landed at Truthout, a left-leaning Web site.

I met Leopold once, three days before his Rove story ran, to discuss his recently published memoir, "News Junkie." It seems to be an honest record of neglect and abuse by his parents, felony conviction, cocaine addiction -- and deception in the practice of journalism.

Leopold says he gets the same rush from breaking a news story that he did from snorting cocaine. To get coke, he lied, cheated and stole. To get his scoops, he has done much the same. As long as it isn't illegal, he told me, he'll do whatever it takes to get a story, especially to nail a corrupt politician or businessman. "A scoop is a scoop," he trumpets in his memoir. "Other journalists all whine about ethics, but that's a load of crap."

I disagree, but I felt some sympathy for the affable, seemingly vulnerable 36-year-old. Before we parted, I told him a bit about myself -- that I freelance for numerous newspapers, including the Sunday Times of London. His publicist had earlier given him my cellphone number.

Three days later, Leopold's Rove story appeared. I wrote him a congratulatory e-mail, wondering how long it would be before the establishment media caught up.

But by Monday there was no announcement. No one else published the story. The blogosphere went wild. Leopold said on the radio that he would out his unnamed sources if it turned out that they were wrong or had misled him. I trawled the Internet looking for a clue to the truth. I found a blog called Talk Left, run by Jeralyn Merritt, a Colorado defense lawyer.

Merritt had called Mark Corallo, a former Justice Department spokesman who is now privately employed by Rove. She reported that Corallo said he had "never spoken with someone identifying himself as 'Jason Leopold.' He did have conversations Saturday and Sunday . . . but the caller identified himself as Joel something or other from the Londay [sic] Sunday Times. . . . At one point . . . he offered to call Joel back, and was given a cell phone number that began with 917. When he called the number back, it turned out not to be a number for Joel."

A chill went down my back. I freelance for the Sunday Times. My first name is often mistaken for Joel. My cellphone number starts with area code 917.

I called Corallo. He confirmed that my name was the one the caller had used. Moreover, the return number the caller had given him was off from mine by one digit. Corallo had never been able to reach me to find out it wasn't I who had called. He said he knew who Leopold was but had never talked to him.

I called Leopold. He gave me a profanity-filled earful, saying that he'd spoken to Corallo four times and that Corallo had called him to denounce the story after it appeared.

When he was done, I asked: "How would Corallo have gotten my phone number, one digit off?"

"Joe, I would never, ever have done something like that," Leopold said defiantly.

Except that he has done things like that. His memoir is full of examples. He did break big stories, but he lied to get many of them. He admits lying to the lawyers for Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow, making up stories to get them to spill more beans. "I was hoping to get both sides so paranoid that one was going to implicate the other," he wrote.

I don't really know why Leopold may have pretended to be me to Corallo. I can only speculate that he either was trying to get a reaction and thought Corallo would be more likely to respond to a conservative-leaning mainstream paper, or he was trying to get Corallo to acknowledge that Rove had been indicted by bluffing that the Sunday Times had confirmed the story. In fact, Corallo told me that "Joel" told him that he had Fitzgerald's spokesman on the record about the indictment. He has also said he believes Leopold made up the whole story.

Leopold still stubbornly stands by the story, claiming that something happened behind the scenes to overturn the indictment. Marc Ash, Truthout's executive director, said last week that his site will "defer to the nation's leading publications" on the Rove story, but he declared his continuing faith in Leopold.

We may never know what really happened. Most mainstream news organizations have dismissed the Leopold story as egregiously wrong. But even if he had gotten it right and scooped the world on a major story, his methods would still raise a huge question: What value does journalism have if it exposes unethical behavior unethically? Leopold seems to assume, as does much of the public, that all journalists practice deception to land a story. But that's not true. I know dozens of reporters, but Leopold is only the second one I've known (the first did it privately) to admit to doing something illegal or unethical on the job.

After reading his memoir -- and watching other journalists, such as Jayson Blair at the New York Times and Jack Kelley at USA Today, crash and burn for making up stories or breaking other rules of newsgathering -- I think there's something else at play here. Leopold is in too many ways a man of his times. These days it is about the reporter, not the story; the actor, not the play; the athlete, not the game. Leopold is a product of a narcissistic culture that has not stopped at journalism's door, a culture facilitated and expanded by the Internet.

In the end, whatever Jason Leopold's future, he got what he appears to be crying out for: attention.

unjoe@aol.com

Joe Lauria is a New York-based freelance writer

whose work appears in the Boston Globe, the

Sunday Times of London and other publications.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

[Coda]

Here's another one to get you 'thinking'

Is Al-Jazeera Less Biased Than The New York Times?
June 19th, 2006

If there were great news out of Iraq, which media outlet would be the least likely to report it?

a. An anti-American news network from Qatar

b. A terrorist-run television station in Lebanon

c. The New York Times

d. The Washington Post

If you answered “a” or “b,” you were contradicted by last week’s coverage. Some absolutely magnificent news did come out of Iraq last Thursday, yet, hard as it might be to believe, subscribers to The New York Times and The Washington Post would have been better off visiting the websites of the anti-American television network Al-Jazeera, or the Hezbollah-run television station Al-Manar if they wanted to find out about it.

The following are the surprising opening paragraphs of Thursday’s report by Al-Jazeera.net – a media outlet never shy about its hatred for America or its support for Islamic terrorists – in a story amazingly titled “‘End’ of al-Qaeda in Iraq,” and containing information that neither The Times nor The Post shared with their readers:

“An Iraqi security adviser has predicted ‘the end of al-Qaeda’ in his country, on a day that a mosque was attacked, labourers were shot and the US said it had lost 2,500 troops there so far.

“Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told a televised news conference in Baghdad on Thursday that his country’s security forces had seized documents giving them the edge over the group.

“‘We believe this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq,’ he said.”

Though almost totally inconceivable, al-Rubaie was quoted both frequently and favorably by Al-Jazeera:

“‘The government is on the attack now … to destroy al-Qaeda and to finish this terrorist organisation in Iraq.’”

“‘I present to you a document that was found in one of Zarqawi’s computers that reveals many dangerous things and gives details on strategy and plans of the al Qaeda terrorist organisation in Iraq.’”

“‘These documents have given us the edge over al-Qaeda and also gave us the whereabouts of their network, of their leaders, of their weapons and the way they lead the organisation and the whereabouts of their meetings.’”

Spectacular news to say the least, made even more so coming from a network that has a hard time hiding its glee when American soldiers in Iraq are killed. Yet, potentially even more surprising, Al-Manar, the Lebanese television station run by the terrorist group Hezbollah, also reported this development at its website Thursday:

“National Security Adviser in Iraq, Muwafaq Rubaie, said that what he called the mine of information from Al-Qaeda documents seized after its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed spelt “the beginning of the end” for the group.”

One would certainly imagine this to be welcome news to Americans, even to those that have been opposed to this incursion since a few months after it started. In fact, it shouldn’t have been at all surprising to find this story plastered on the front pages of newspapers coast to coast on Friday, including those with anti-war tendencies as well as a preponderance of anti-war subscribers.

Unfortunately, such was not the case. Not only didn’t this news reach the front pages of The New York Times or The Washington Post, but also this entire assessment by Iraq’s national security advisor went unreported by either of these publications’ print editions despite an extraordinary amount of coverage given by both organizations to all things Iraq.

The Post was clearly the more negligent concerning this issue. As noted by NewsBusters, Friday’s article entitled “Maliki Aide Who Discussed Amnesty Leaves Job” wasn’t just strategically buried well inside the paper on page A22, but also the writers waited until paragraph 21 to address the recently seized al-Qaeda documents:

“Also Thursday, the Iraqi government released a document it said was found before Zarqawi’s death during a raid on an insurgent safe house. The document, which described the insurgency as ‘gloomy’ because of gains by Iraq’s security forces, called on insurgents to foment strife among Shiites and between the United States and Iran.

”The authenticity of the document, which closely echoes accounts of insurgent strategy offered by Iraq’s Shiite political leaders, could not be independently verified. It was written in a style different from typical statements issued by al-Qaeda in Iraq, which refer to Shiites as ‘rejectionists’ or ‘dogs’ and to U.S. forces as ‘crusaders.’”

In a 1,703-word article about Iraq, this was all the attention The Post deigned to give to a document reportedly taken from one of Zarqawi’s computers, after which the piece quickly regressed into a predictable exposition of American casualty figures since the war’s inception. Conspicuously absent was any reference to al-Rubaie or his assessment of the future of al-Qaeda in this region.

Yet, The Post did have a front-page story about Iraq on Friday. In fact, it had two. In the first one, the same writers of the previous piece focused their sights on the seemingly more important condition of prisons in the embattled nation.

Besides the obviously questionable journalistic priorities being displayed by the positioning of these two articles, potentially most provocative was the immediate reference to an Iraqi that likely few in America have ever heard of right in the first two paragraphs:

“Iraq’s prison system is overrun with Shiite Muslim militiamen who have freed fellow militia members convicted of major crimes and executed Sunni Arab inmates, the country’s deputy justice minister said in an interview this week.

“‘We cannot control the prisons. It’s as simple as that,’ said the deputy minister, Pusho Ibrahim Ali Daza Yei, an ethnic Kurd. ‘Our jails are infiltrated by the militias from top to bottom, from Basra to Baghdad.’”

Pusho Ibrahim Ali Daza Yei? Certainly no household name that. As such, the bias being demonstrated here was as disturbing as it was striking, for The Post made it quite clear that it will prominently quote Iraqi legal figures that have a negative view of what is going on in that country while totally ignoring the opinions of Iraqi national security officials who believe progress is being made in the war and in defeating America’s sworn enemy.

How disgraceful.

The second front-page article on Iraq published by The Post on Friday dealt with the Congressional debate about the war that occurred the previous day on Capitol Hill. It seems The Post feels political discussions about Iraq in Washington are more important than positive events transpiring there.

All totaled, The Post published eight articles and two editorials about Iraq on Friday comprising an astounding 9,688 words with not one of them mentioning al-Rubaie or this positive development for his nation, and only four sentences devoted to the seized al-Qaeda documents. Imagine that.

For its part, The Times also ran two front-page stories dealing with Iraq on Friday. In “U.S. Portrayal Helps Flesh Out Zarqawi’s Heir,” the writers didn’t actually reference the seized al-Qaeda documents until the nineteenth paragraph. By then, the text had conveniently, and likely not accidentally, shifted off the front-page well into the body of the paper.

Much like The Post, the other front-page story about Iraq published by The Times on Friday was about Congress’s debate on the issue. This ended up being one of four articles The Times published on Friday about this region totaling 3,463 words.

But, there was absolutely no coverage given to al-Rubaie, or his prediction that “this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq.” I guess the words of a national security advisor aren’t important to The Times unless they are dealing with so-called “wiretaps” that one of its writers has despicably outed.

By contrast to the boycott of this issue by America’s leading dailies, the international media were quite fascinated with the news. For instance, this was the lede in a report filed by the BBC on Thursday with a headline that one would never imagine seeing here in America, “Al-Qaeda ‘Coming to End in Iraq’”:

“The killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi marks the ‘beginning of the end’ of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country’s national security adviser has said.”

Don’t hold your breath waiting for The Times or The Post to run that story.

Echoing the BBC’s clearly well-placed journalistic priorities, British newspapers from The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Sun, and The Birmingham Post all gave a lot of attention to this story with one headline reading “Al-Qaeda in Iraq ‘Close to Collapse.’” Nearby, The Scotsman, The Irish Times, and the Daily Record prominently reported this news, with one running the headline “Al-Qaeda ‘Facing Destruction.’”

Australian newspapers also seemed intrigued by al-Rubaie’s announcement, as the Hobart Mercury, the Herald Sun, The Australian, and the Courier Mail ran stories on the subject. In Canada, The Hamilton Spectator, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and The Calgary Herald also covered this story.

Elsewhere, publications such as The Daily Times of Pakistan, Indian Express, Turkish Daily News, Taipei Times, Khaleej Times of the United Arab Emirates, the Times of India, the Gulf Daily News of Bahrain, Middle East Times of Egypt, the St. Petersburg Times of Russia, The Daily Star of Lebanon, Thanh Nien Daily of Vietnam, Al-Bawaba of Jordan, and the Peninsula Online of Qatar saw enough importance in this issue to report it.

In fact, international media outlets of all colors and stripes Thursday and Friday – including two that are overtly and unashamedly hostile towards America and its people, while clearly rooting for her enemies in Iraq – shared this tremendously optimistic news with their readers.

And yet, two of America’s leading newspapers chose not to report it at all. Sadly, this once again demonstrated how America’s media are fighting a different battle than its soldiers. After all, for publications that have been voicing loud and almost constant opposition to this war for several years, any positive development that leads to their expressly desired troop withdrawal should be heralded from the rooftops.

On their part, any behavior to the contrary indicates media that want the troops to leave, but only if they do so in loss and shame. Despicably, a stable, peaceful Iraq that offers America the opportunity to reduce troop levels in a victorious and strategically advantageous fashion would clearly not be welcomed by these news agencies, for it wouldn’t achieve the political result they are working so tirelessly for, namely, ousting Republicans from power in upcoming elections.

The fact that this probably doesn’t come as a big surprise to many readers even makes it more disgraceful.

Noel Sheppard is a contributing writer to the Business & Media Institute, as well as contributing editor for the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters.org. He welcomes feedback.

[tristano's ghost]

Coda, I don't care if Chicken Little posted it to his/her blog--it's a U.S. govt. memo that the WaPo reprinted. Are you questioning its veracity? And yes, Leopold has been discredited. Somehow, it still doesn't strike me as being quite as disgraceful as a president who deliberately distorted and misled us into a war that's cost 2500 lives and running. And the WaPo's editorial board these days is a disgrace as well--more evidence of the MSM's center-right tilt.

Great to see rightwingers giving Al-Jazeera some credit, although the alleged letter that's discussed is widely thought to be a forgery of the Iraqi govt. If AQ is truly coming to an end in Iraq, great. Somehow, the events of the past few days do not seem to indicate that, however.

[RBS]

Originally Posted by tristano's ghost

If AQ is truly coming to an end in Iraq, great. Somehow, the events of the past few days do not seem to indicate that, however.

Al Qaeda wasn't even in Iraq until we "liberated" it.

[Sergio Zamora]

Just for the sake of clarity, the organization called Al Qaeda in Iraq was labeled as such by Zarqawi after the US invasion. Originally, Zarqawi was not directly associated, and in some ways was thought of as a rival to Al Qaeda. Aside from taking the name and friendlier stance towards Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, I don't know that there was any known transactional relationship (funding, resources, personnel) between the two.

So when people speak specifically of the organization Al Qaeda in Iraq, that's one thing. When people speak of the larger Al Qaeda organization's presence in Iraq, that's another. I doubt very much that the latter is in any way affected by Zarqawi's death. If they got their bureaucratic (because that's what a bureaucracy is for) shit together, the former shouldn't be too affected either I would surmise. But that's all just 2 cent speculation from my part.

[Jesse]

All of the intelligence available for Bush to ignore projected this outcome, belieing the meaning of a war on terror.

[Ron Thorne]

One need look no further than to the avatar of posts #2 & 3 to understand certain predictable responses to a thread such as this.

[willy]

My babe's hotter Ron.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by willy

My babe's hotter Ron.

At least your avatar represents someone with intelligence and a humanistic agenda.

I'd love to spend some time with Madeleine Albright, which is about as far as my interest level can be from reality with respect to "her".

[willy]

You mean the woman who, along with Jimmy "Malaise" Carter, assisted Bill Clinton in speeding up North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons?

[Ron Thorne]

Goodnight, Wilty.

[willy]

Sorry. We weren't supposed to forget about that mid-90s deal gone bad due to the usual liberal ignorance, were we?

[Ron Thorne]

You win, wilty. You're (obviously) the superior intellect.

Feel better?

[lynn]

The World (on NPR) had a segment covering this plus they had a pdf of the actual document.

http://www.theworld.org/latesteditio...20060620.shtml

coda will have to eat a steaming bowl of his own poo.

[Gary Sisco]

The memo (itself, written by the US ambassador) was front page news yesterday in UK. The memo itself appears, below, edited, presumably for reasons of security:

From The Independent (UK):

The ugly truth about everyday life in Baghdad (by the US ambassador)
CONFIDENTIAL MEMO
FROM: US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Baghdad
TO: Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
SUBJECT: SNAPSHOTS FROM THE OFFICE
SENSITIVE
Published: 20 June 2006
1. Iraqi staff in the Public Affairs sector have complained that Islamist and Militia groups have been negatively affecting daily routine. Harassment over proper dress and habits is increasingly persuasive. They also report power cuts and fuel prices have diminished their quality of life.

Women's Rights

2. Two of our three female employees report stepped up harassment beginning in mid-May. One, a Shia who favors Western clothing, was advised by an unknown woman in her Baghdad neighbourhood to wear a veil and not to drive her own car. She said some groups are pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran even at its most conservative.

3. Another, a Sunni, said people in her neighbourhood are harassing women and telling them to cover up and stop using cell phones. She said the taxi driver who brings her every day to the green zone has told her he cannot let her ride unless she wears a headcover. A female in the PAS cultural section is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats.

4. The women say they cannot identify the groups pressuring them. The cautions come from other women, sometimes from men who could be Sunni or Shia, but appear conservative. Some ministries, notably the Sadrist controlled Ministry of Transportation, have been forcing females to wear the hijab at work.

Dress Code For All?

5. Staff members have reported it is now dangerous for men to wear shorts in public; they no longer allow their children to play outside in shorts. People who wear jeans in public have come under attack.

Evictions

6. One colleague beseeched us to help a neighbor who was uprooted in May from her home of 30 years, on the pretense of application of some long-disused law. The woman, who is a Fayli Kurd, says she has nowhere to go, but the courts give them no recourse to this new assertion of power. Such uprootings may be response by new Shia government authorities to similar actions against Arabs by Kurds in other parts of Iraq. (NOTE: An Arab newspaper editor told us he is preparing an extensive survey of ethnic cleansing, which he said is taking place in almost every Iraqi province, as political parties and their militias are seemingly engaged in tit-for-tat reprisals all over Iraq.)

Power Cuts and Fuel Shortages a Drain on Society

7. Temperatures in Baghdad have already reached 115 degrees. Employees all confirm that, by the last week of May, they were getting one hour of power for every six hours without. By early June, the situation had improved slightly. In Hal al-Shaab, power has recently improved from one in six to one in three hours. Other staff report similar variances. Central Baghdad neighborhood Bab al-Nu'atham has had no city power for over a month. Areas near hospitals, political party headquarters and the green zone have the best supply. One staff member reported a friend lives in a building that houses the new minister; within 24 hours of his appointment, her building had city power 24 hours a day.

8. All employees supplement city power with service contracted with neighborhood generator hookups that they pay for monthly. One employee pays 7500 Iraqi dinars (ID) per ampere to get 10 amperes per month (75,000 ID = $50/month). For this, her family gets eight hours of power per day, with service ending at 2am.

9. Fuel queues. One employee told us that he had spent 12 hours on his day off waiting to get gas. Another staff member confirmed that shortages were so dire, prices on the black market in much of Baghdad were now above 1,000 ID per liter (the official, subsidized price is 250 ID)

Kidnappings, and Threats of Worse

10. One employee informed us that his brother-in-law had been kidnapped. The man was eventually released but this caused enormous emotional distress to his family. One employee, a Sunni Kurd, received an indirect threat on her life in April. She took extended leave, and by May, relocated abroad with her family.

Security Forces Mistrusted

11. In April, employees began reporting a change in demeanor of guards at the green zone checkpoints. They seemed to be militia-like in some cases seemingly taunting. One employee asked us to get her some press credentials because the guards held her embassy badge up and proclaimed loudly to passers-by "Embassy" as she entered. Such information is a death sentence if heard by the wrong people.

Supervising Staff At High Risk

12. Employees all share a common tale: of nine employees in March, only four had family members who knew they worked at the embassy. Iraqi colleagues who are called after hours often speak in Arabic as an indication they cannot speak openly in English.

13. We cannot call employees in on weekends or holidays without blowing their "cover". A Sunni Arab female employee tells us family pressures and the inability to share details of her employment is very tough; she told her family she was in Jordon when we sent her on training to the US. Mounting criticism of the US at home among family members also makes her life difficult. She told us in mid-June that most of her family believes the US - which is widely perceived as fully controlling the country and tolerating the malaise - is punishing the population as Saddam did (but with Sunnis and very poor Shia now at the bottom of the list). Otherwise, she says, the allocation of power and security would not be so arbitrary.

14. Some of our staff do not take home their American cell phones, as it makes them a target. They use code names for friends and colleagues and contacts entered into Iraq cell phones. For at least six months, we have not been able to use any local staff for translation at on-camera press events.

15. We have begun shredding documents that show local staff surnames. In March, a few members approached us to ask what provisions would we make for them if we evacuate.

Sectarian Tensions Within Families

16. Ethnic and sectarian faultlines are becoming part of the daily media fare in the country. One Shia employee told us in late May that she can no longer watch TV news with her mother, who is Sunni, because her mother blamed all the government failings on the fact that Shia are in charge. Many of the employee's family left Iraq years ago. This month, another sister is departing for Egypt, as she imagines the future here is too bleak.

Frayed Nerves and Mistrust

17. Against this backdrop of frayed social networks, tension and moodiness have risen. A Sunni Arab female apparently insulted a Shia female by criticizing her overly liberal dress. One colleague told us he feels " defeated" by circumstances, citing the example of being unable to help his two-year-old son who has asthma and cannot sleep in the stifling heat.

18. Another employee tells us life outside the Green Zone has become " emotionally draining". He claims to attend a funeral "every evening ". He, like other local employees, is financially responsible for his immediate and extended families. He revealed that "the burden of responsibility; new stress coming from social circles who increasingly disapprove of the coalition presence, and everyday threats weigh very heavily ".

Staying Straight with Neighborhood Governments and the 'Alama'

19. Staff say they daily assess how to move safely in public. Often, if they must travel outside their neighborhoods, they adopt the clothing, language, and traits of the area. Moving inconspicuously in Sadr City requires Shia dress and a particular lingo.

20 Since Samarra, Baghdadis have honed survival skills. Vocabulary has shifted. Our staff - and our contacts - have become adept in modifying behaviour to avoid "Alasas", informants who keep an eye out for " outsiders" in neighborhoods. The Alasa mentality is becoming entrenched as Iraqi security forces fail to gain public confidence.

21. Staff report security and services are being rerouted through " local providers" whose affiliations are vague. Those who are admonishing citizens on their dress are not well known either. Personal safety depends on good relations with "neighborhood" governments, who barricade streets and ward off outsiders. People no longer trust most neighbours.

22. A resident of Shia/Christian Karrada district told us "outsiders" have moved in and control the mukhtars.

Comment

23. Although our staff retain a professional demeanor, strains are apparent. We see their personal fears are reinforcing divisive sectarian or ethnic channels. Employees are apprehensive enough that we fear they may exaggerate developments or steer us towards news that comports with their own world view. Objectivity, civility, and logic that make for a functional workplace may falter if social pressures outside the Green Zone don't abate.

(This is an edited version of the memo)

1. Iraqi staff in the Public Affairs sector have complained that Islamist and Militia groups have been negatively affecting daily routine. Harassment over proper dress and habits is increasingly persuasive. They also report power cuts and fuel prices have diminished their quality of life.

Women's Rights

2. Two of our three female employees report stepped up harassment beginning in mid-May. One, a Shia who favors Western clothing, was advised by an unknown woman in her Baghdad neighbourhood to wear a veil and not to drive her own car. She said some groups are pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran even at its most conservative.

3. Another, a Sunni, said people in her neighbourhood are harassing women and telling them to cover up and stop using cell phones. She said the taxi driver who brings her every day to the green zone has told her he cannot let her ride unless she wears a headcover. A female in the PAS cultural section is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats.

4. The women say they cannot identify the groups pressuring them. The cautions come from other women, sometimes from men who could be Sunni or Shia, but appear conservative. Some ministries, notably the Sadrist controlled Ministry of Transportation, have been forcing females to wear the hijab at work.

Dress Code For All?

5. Staff members have reported it is now dangerous for men to wear shorts in public; they no longer allow their children to play outside in shorts. People who wear jeans in public have come under attack.

Evictions

6. One colleague beseeched us to help a neighbor who was uprooted in May from her home of 30 years, on the pretense of application of some long-disused law. The woman, who is a Fayli Kurd, says she has nowhere to go, but the courts give them no recourse to this new assertion of power. Such uprootings may be response by new Shia government authorities to similar actions against Arabs by Kurds in other parts of Iraq. (NOTE: An Arab newspaper editor told us he is preparing an extensive survey of ethnic cleansing, which he said is taking place in almost every Iraqi province, as political parties and their militias are seemingly engaged in tit-for-tat reprisals all over Iraq.)

Power Cuts and Fuel Shortages a Drain on Society

7. Temperatures in Baghdad have already reached 115 degrees. Employees all confirm that, by the last week of May, they were getting one hour of power for every six hours without. By early June, the situation had improved slightly. In Hal al-Shaab, power has recently improved from one in six to one in three hours. Other staff report similar variances. Central Baghdad neighborhood Bab al-Nu'atham has had no city power for over a month. Areas near hospitals, political party headquarters and the green zone have the best supply. One staff member reported a friend lives in a building that houses the new minister; within 24 hours of his appointment, her building had city power 24 hours a day.

8. All employees supplement city power with service contracted with neighborhood generator hookups that they pay for monthly. One employee pays 7500 Iraqi dinars (ID) per ampere to get 10 amperes per month (75,000 ID = $50/month). For this, her family gets eight hours of power per day, with service ending at 2am.

9. Fuel queues. One employee told us that he had spent 12 hours on his day off waiting to get gas. Another staff member confirmed that shortages were so dire, prices on the black market in much of Baghdad were now above 1,000 ID per liter (the official, subsidized price is 250 ID)

Kidnappings, and Threats of Worse

10. One employee informed us that his brother-in-law had been kidnapped. The man was eventually released but this caused enormous emotional distress to his family. One employee, a Sunni Kurd, received an indirect threat on her life in April. She took extended leave, and by May, relocated abroad with her family.

Security Forces Mistrusted

11. In April, employees began reporting a change in demeanor of guards at the green zone checkpoints. They seemed to be militia-like in some cases seemingly taunting. One employee asked us to get her some press credentials because the guards held her embassy badge up and proclaimed loudly to passers-by "Embassy" as she entered. Such information is a death sentence if heard by the wrong people.
Supervising Staff At High Risk

12. Employees all share a common tale: of nine employees in March, only four had family members who knew they worked at the embassy. Iraqi colleagues who are called after hours often speak in Arabic as an indication they cannot speak openly in English.

13. We cannot call employees in on weekends or holidays without blowing their "cover". A Sunni Arab female employee tells us family pressures and the inability to share details of her employment is very tough; she told her family she was in Jordon when we sent her on training to the US. Mounting criticism of the US at home among family members also makes her life difficult. She told us in mid-June that most of her family believes the US - which is widely perceived as fully controlling the country and tolerating the malaise - is punishing the population as Saddam did (but with Sunnis and very poor Shia now at the bottom of the list). Otherwise, she says, the allocation of power and security would not be so arbitrary.

14. Some of our staff do not take home their American cell phones, as it makes them a target. They use code names for friends and colleagues and contacts entered into Iraq cell phones. For at least six months, we have not been able to use any local staff for translation at on-camera press events.

15. We have begun shredding documents that show local staff surnames. In March, a few members approached us to ask what provisions would we make for them if we evacuate.

Sectarian Tensions Within Families

16. Ethnic and sectarian faultlines are becoming part of the daily media fare in the country. One Shia employee told us in late May that she can no longer watch TV news with her mother, who is Sunni, because her mother blamed all the government failings on the fact that Shia are in charge. Many of the employee's family left Iraq years ago. This month, another sister is departing for Egypt, as she imagines the future here is too bleak.

Frayed Nerves and Mistrust

17. Against this backdrop of frayed social networks, tension and moodiness have risen. A Sunni Arab female apparently insulted a Shia female by criticizing her overly liberal dress. One colleague told us he feels " defeated" by circumstances, citing the example of being unable to help his two-year-old son who has asthma and cannot sleep in the stifling heat.

18. Another employee tells us life outside the Green Zone has become " emotionally draining". He claims to attend a funeral "every evening ". He, like other local employees, is financially responsible for his immediate and extended families. He revealed that "the burden of responsibility; new stress coming from social circles who increasingly disapprove of the coalition presence, and everyday threats weigh very heavily ".

Staying Straight with Neighborhood Governments and the 'Alama'

19. Staff say they daily assess how to move safely in public. Often, if they must travel outside their neighborhoods, they adopt the clothing, language, and traits of the area. Moving inconspicuously in Sadr City requires Shia dress and a particular lingo.

20 Since Samarra, Baghdadis have honed survival skills. Vocabulary has shifted. Our staff - and our contacts - have become adept in modifying behaviour to avoid "Alasas", informants who keep an eye out for " outsiders" in neighborhoods. The Alasa mentality is becoming entrenched as Iraqi security forces fail to gain public confidence.

21. Staff report security and services are being rerouted through " local providers" whose affiliations are vague. Those who are admonishing citizens on their dress are not well known either. Personal safety depends on good relations with "neighborhood" governments, who barricade streets and ward off outsiders. People no longer trust most neighbours.

22. A resident of Shia/Christian Karrada district told us "outsiders" have moved in and control the mukhtars.

Comment

23. Although our staff retain a professional demeanor, strains are apparent. We see their personal fears are reinforcing divisive sectarian or ethnic channels. Employees are apprehensive enough that we fear they may exaggerate developments or steer us towards news that comports with their own world view. Objectivity, civility, and logic that make for a functional workplace may falter if social pressures outside the Green Zone don't abate.

(This is an edited version of the memo)