And no jobs? Despite all the reconstruction projects? Why the hell is the puppet government allowing contract labor to be brought into the country when unemployment is said to be around 30% for Iraqis (it's actually much higher)?
But you're an Iraqi and you live with the daily violence which -- unlike the foreign press -- hasn't vanished from the country. And people you know and love are wounded -- and the wounded are ignored by the press which only wants to count kills apparently but you try living without an arm or leg and then see how easy it is. And, yes, you do see loved ones killed as well.
And you lived through Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister. The coward who fled Iraq decades ago. Ran to Syria, ran to Iran, ran like the coward he was. And he's put in charge and determined to purge all Ba'athists from Iraq. So he overseas the ethnic cleansing of 2006 and 2007. And you survive that and his other wars -- his wars on the press, his wars on women, his wars on religious minorities, his wars on Iraq's LGBT community -- and tell youself that, just maybe, the next elections can provide hope for your country.
And when the elections are delayed from 2009 to 2010, you keep hoping. You see Nouri use the Justice and Accountability Commission to take out Shi'ite rivals as well as to remove a number of Sunnis from the process. You see Nouri abuse his post to campaign. You see so much that could discourage you and yet you turn out for the Mach 10th elections.
And though Nouri and his press buddies spin it as a win for Nouri before any vote tallies are released, it turns out Nouri -- even with all his cheating -- didn't win. And Nouri then demands recounts and throws fits and gets the totals changed a little in his favor but still he's not the winner. His State of Law political slate came in second to Iraqiya.
Whether you like or dislike Ayad Allawi, you may think a new leader may provide some space.
Per the Constitution, Allawi now is the one to be named prime minister-designate and given 30 days to form a Cabinet. If he can't do that (nominate ministers and have Parliament vote in favor of them) within the 30 days, someone else (per the Constitution) will be named prime minister-designate. (You only become prime minister, per the Constitution, when you've formed a Cabinet.)
But Nouri won't let it happen. And he creates a nine month political stalemate. He refuses to allow Allawi the chance to form the government. He goes to the Supreme Court he controls and gets a verdict in his favor.
Around this point, you might be wondering if it was even worth it. You're obviously not being listened to. Outside forces are obviously in charge of Iraq.
And yet, this year, Iraqis took the streets. They protested in January and throughout February. And with the Youth Movement organizing, they began protesting every Friday. (Such as last Friday, Determination Friday, screen snap via The Great Iraqi Revolution's video.)
They have been arrested for protesting, they have been tortured for protesting, they have been attacked attacked for it. And they continue to protest every Friday for the better Iraq that they believe in.
But you rarely get to hear about that. It may be the most depressing reality about Iraq.
Not only has the foreign press largely withdrawn from Iraq, but the press is interested in other regions. So Iraq's months long protest had to compete (and lose) for the press' attention with Egypt in February and currently it has to compete (and loses) with Syria.
The press is apparently incapable of doing more than one thing at a time. J-schools appear to have succeeded only in imparting that it is not polite to chew gum and walk at the same time.
So in it's sixth month of protest, Iraqis are still being ignored.
You need to start asking yourself about the resources you're utilizing. Is a network newscast, for example, worth watching if the anchor repeatedly ignores Iraq (even when US soldiers are killed there) but finds time to note that Aaron Spellings mansion just sold? Is a 'left' magazine worth reading if, in 2011, all it wants to be about is the 2102 campaign and it can't tell you a damn thing about Iraq?
The Iraqi people suffer. They are fighting that but they still suffer largely in silence and that's due to the US media which has little-to-no interest in Iraq.
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McClatchy Newspapers, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times and The Washington Post continue to have reporters in Iraq as does the wire service AP. The bulk of US papers do not and no US broadcast network has reporters in Iraq. The cable network CNN does. NPR is unable to report on Iraq due to repeatedly sending their Baghdad head (Kelly McEvers) to Syria and elsewhere they think a 'hot' story is taking place. The most reliable outlet for protests in Iraq is a foreign outlet, The Great Iraqi Revolution.