Elections 1: Ameriyah

"
Our plan is to go to areas in west Baghdad, areas that had mostly boycotted the last elections.

Areas that became hotbeds of insurgency.

And al Qaeda.


We drove on, one of our drivers, S, and myself alone in the car. Our car the only moving vehicle in sight.

Past Qadisiyah. Past Yarmouk. Past Jamiaa and Khadraa, we were stopped every 300 m by checkpoints, sometimes searching us and sometimes just checking our vehicle sticker permit and waving us on our way – We reach the checkpoint of Ameriyah.

We turn left and six Iraqi Army soldiers take aim – at us.

We stop.

"Where do you think you're going? There's curfew – no cars allowed on the streets!"

He walks up to us.

"We are journalists" S shouts, "We are here to speak to voters."

"Journalists???" Surprised faces – raised eye brows.

"Why? Are we the first journalists who have come here?"

"Yes." "
Inside Iraq