Is America the solution or the problem in Iraq?
This is an excerpt from an Associated Press new article by Kim Gamel:
"But talking to ordinary Iraqis on the street is no simple task.
We approached the shop's cashier. But he politely declined to answer questions, putting his hand to his chest in apology and saying that he didn't want to be seen associating with Americans. That, he explained, would make him a target for the insurgents hiding on the outskirts of the city.It told him, through the interpreter, that I understood the situation and didn't want to cause him any problems.(empasis added)
A tall man wearing a black traditional Arab robe and a red-and-white checkered headdress stopped outside the store and agreed to talk to us. I asked him about the situation in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
As he started to answer, we heard a burst of machine gun fire. A bullet from a sniper struck a pile of bricks in front of us. We all ran back into the store.
After about 10 minutes of sporadic fire, the shooting finally stopped.
A little girl playing in the street nearby was lightly wounded by the gunfire — there was blood on her pink jumpsuit. The soldiers gave her first aid along with a stuffed animal and candy to cheer her up.
It was a minor attack, the kind that seldom finds its way into the news. But it's an example of the violence Iraqis face every day.
Before we left, I glanced back at the man I almost got to interview about life in Samarra.
He nodded and gave me a sardonic smile, as if to say: You have your answer."
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