Outskirts

It’s back up in the 100’s. I suppose this is our Indian summer. The other day the Mayor of Mahmoudiya got arrested. Mahmoudiya is an outlying town to the south of Baghdad, and one of the least permissive areas in the province. There’s very little legitimate government there; we attend Sheikh’s councils and other, more traditional, quasi-governmental meetings. It’s one of the areas that worked to get more polling sites. It’s definitely Sunni country. The mayor had a reputation for being rough with contractors. Generally contractors not from Mahmoudiya. It’s been a recurrent problem with the reconstruction effort that many projects are derailed or stymied because local heavies want a monopoly on the contracts and often resort to brutish tactics as part of their business plan. I’ve gotten several calls from Chairman Mazin about this guy- wanting info on why he was arrested and how long he’ll be questioned. I’m a little concerned that Mazin might be closer to this guy than he lets on. Apparently he was put in power by some Shia brokers. After the arrest the local population came out and held a pro-democracy rally. Really. They invited the local army commander to speak. They were really happy the army arrested the mayor.