Splicetoday

Politics & Media
Jul 28, 2008, 12:56PM

Not Done Yet

A photographer in Iraq takes pictures in Diyala province, where an active and violent insurgency is disrupting the lives of civilians. In spite of all the progress that has been made, these pockets of resistance show that Iraq has a long way to go before it is considered stable.

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Baghdad is safer today than it was this time last year. Outside of the capital, there has been improvement in the country's level of sustainable security and a decline in the number of violent incidents since July 2007.

It might appear that post-war Iraq is moving toward long-term recovery. However, these trends do not reflect the daily violence faced by civilians who are being wounded and killed inside the present-day stronghold of Al-Qaeda in Iraq: Diyala province.

In the distance, the sudden sound of an explosion reminded me that I was in Diyala. With a mouth full of grapes, I walked toward the northern edge of the roof and looked for smoke. From the rooftop I could not see the tragic event unfold. Somewhere in Diyala, gravely injured women screamed for help.


Less than an hour later, I arrived at Combat Outpost Mukhisa with a Coalition security patrol. The Iraqi Army operates Mukhisa. As I walked toward the command post, insurgents fired two rocket-propelled grenades at the outpost's north wall. Iraqi soldiers armed with rifles raced past me to the main gate.

 

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