On edge

It is now late in the evening on April 8, minutes away from the five-year anniversary of what is recognized as the liberation of Baghdad. Those of you a few hours behind us may now be watching the testimony of Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus. Residents of Sadr City and other neighborhoods in Baghdad are hunkered down in their homes, anxious over the simmering fighting between militia groups and Iraqi Security Forces and the possibility that tomorrow might bring on an uncontrolled escalation of violence. The Sadrists have reportedly called off their "million man march" scheduled for tomorrow, however significant demonstrations are still likely to occur. I have just submitted the last of several reports requested by Washington describing the political atmospherics in Baghdad; today my team and I worked the phones for hours canvassing Iraqis across the city, talking to high-ranking officials and regular citizens alike in order to gauge the tenor of Baghdad and provide some sense to the air of tension and anxiety pervading the capital. A war of words accompanies this could-be war on the streets; the propaganda efforts of all sides are shifted into high gear. One way to look at this confrontation is through the lens of Iraqi electoral politics; the major Shia parties are lining up against each other to prove their dominance. The ISCI (Islamic Supreme Council in Iraq) party, more ensconced within the offices of legitimate government, claim that the Sadrists are nothing more than outlaw criminal thugs. Which many are. The Sadrists retort that ISCI loyalists are pawns of the regime in Tehran, and not representative of the Iraqi people. Which many are. For right now, the Sunnis and the Kurds are on the sidelines of this fight for Baghdad's heart and soul. And we're right in the middle of it. Tomorrow will be an interesting day.