The real Iraq

I don’t know if anyone has been paying attention to the news stories about Iraq lately. I mean, I know that I have a tendency to skim the headlines and shrug off all the bombings as just a daily ritual. However, upon arrival back in Khanaqin yesterday, we found out that the 12 Iraqi policemen killed on their way back from Baqouba, were in fact, from Khanaqin. This has caused incredible grief and anger in the town and rumors are madly circulating about who ordered the attack. Was it an outside organization? Was it the Arabs attacking the Kurds? Was it the governor?

Last night, the funeral processions began and gunshots rang through the air for several hours. This seems to be a standard procedure, but even though they were only being fired into the air, and not AT anyone, it was nerve-wracking in that they were so close. Being my first real experience with gunfire in Iraq, my first instinct was to duck every time, but the vets of our program sort of shrugged it all off. After all, they’ve actually endured the real violence last year down in the south.

Uncertainty remains about what happens next. We can only hope that the rest of the funeral processions will be peaceful and that further outbreaks of violence do not occur. For now, the city is quiet and we’ve had good feedback from our national staff about the situation. I don’t get the sense there is anything to be overly concerned about, but it’s a good reminder that we need to keep a low profile.