Petraeus and Crocker Testimony Off the Radar of Most in Baghdad
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 10, 2008
BAGHDAD, April 9 -- The congressional testimony of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker has barely registered in Iraq.
Several parliament members were unaware of what was said at the hearings. Many Baghdad residents had no idea they had taken place. Even on Alhurra, a U.S.-funded Arabic satellite channel, the testimony was the 10th and final report on Wednesday's evening newscast, following dispatches on Egyptian politics and the state of emergency preparedness in Syria.
"The Americans have hundreds of meetings and testimonies like this, and what has it done for the Iraqi people? Nothing," said Allah Sadiq, 49, a carpenter in the capital's Karrada district. "So why do we care? We just want all the foreigners to leave and stop causing disasters for our country."
Most Iraqis interviewed Wednesday were more concerned about a day-long curfew in the capital that left most streets nearly deserted. Continued clashes between Shiite militia members and U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood left at least 22 people dead, the Associated Press reported, including three children who were killed when apparently errant mortar shells struck houses and a funeral tent.
The U.S. military also announced the deaths of five American soldiers, bringing the troop death toll to 17 since Sunday. Four of the deaths occurred Wednesday and the other on Tuesday, the military said.
Few Iraqis paid much attention to the events in Washington.
(Continued here.)
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 10, 2008
BAGHDAD, April 9 -- The congressional testimony of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker has barely registered in Iraq.
Several parliament members were unaware of what was said at the hearings. Many Baghdad residents had no idea they had taken place. Even on Alhurra, a U.S.-funded Arabic satellite channel, the testimony was the 10th and final report on Wednesday's evening newscast, following dispatches on Egyptian politics and the state of emergency preparedness in Syria.
"The Americans have hundreds of meetings and testimonies like this, and what has it done for the Iraqi people? Nothing," said Allah Sadiq, 49, a carpenter in the capital's Karrada district. "So why do we care? We just want all the foreigners to leave and stop causing disasters for our country."
Most Iraqis interviewed Wednesday were more concerned about a day-long curfew in the capital that left most streets nearly deserted. Continued clashes between Shiite militia members and U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood left at least 22 people dead, the Associated Press reported, including three children who were killed when apparently errant mortar shells struck houses and a funeral tent.
The U.S. military also announced the deaths of five American soldiers, bringing the troop death toll to 17 since Sunday. Four of the deaths occurred Wednesday and the other on Tuesday, the military said.
Few Iraqis paid much attention to the events in Washington.
(Continued here.)
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