From the, "Why do we have to turn to the foreign press to get our news?," comes this:

Fight to the Death

December 20, 2003

Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad on the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more.

In Khaldiyah, it's a war of nerves. A three-metre-deep crater marks the explosion point of a careering car bomb that the local police knew was inevitable. Just across and down a highway that cuts through this small town west of Baghdad is the home of a man the US suspects could help bring an end to these relentless attacks - tribal sheik Fanar Al-Kharbit.

The bomb exploded only hours before the first news flash on the most dramatic turn in the Iraq conflict since the fall of Baghdad - the capture last Saturday evening of Saddam Hussein.

Throughout the night each side operated in secrecy, the Americans subjecting Saddam to a humiliating videotaped medical examination that would be released to the world, the insurgents rigging the car with enough explosive to kill 23 Iraqis in a strike on the Khaldiyah police station that also would flash worldwide - until it was blitzed from the media by the news of Saddam's arrest.

As black smoke cleared over Khaldiyah and its dusty main street was swept of body parts, shattered glass and clothing now reduced to singed rags, locals went through the grim ritual of tallying the dead - more than a dozen policemen, at least one student from a nearby school, a fruit vendor, a few other street-stallholders and a man who worked in a nearby sewage control office.

The police station, shielded only by a lightweight cinderblock wall, was targeted because the insurgents accuse the Iraqi police of collaborating with the US occupation forces. Initially, at least, it had the desired effect - police anger was directed not at the bomber, but at the Americans.

Surviving policemen complained that the US had not sufficiently protected their station, that they had been threatened with the sack for their reluctance to join US raiding parties and that locals constantly abused them as American lackeys. Acutely aware that he is 120 times more likely to die than his counterpart on the beat in New York, police officer Khalid Hammed said: "The best thing the US can do for us is pull out."

The two-storey building is a police station in name only, pushed into action ahead of its time because of a US determination to be seen to be putting Iraqi security forces in place. More than 100 men are stationed at Khaldiyah, but only half have uniforms and fewer have weapons; they share two patrol cars with four other stations in the area and they have one telephone.

Like other guerilla conflicts, Iraq has become a war of attrition.

Super self-protection by the Americans makes them a difficult target. So the insurgents turn more on Iraqis who are seen to be helping the US - police and security workers, the judiciary and local political leaders...much more at link.

To my politically naive mind, this seems a simple issue. Let's turn the tables. An American leader, feared and hated by much of the citizenry(anyone come to mind?), is deposed and in his/her place an occupying force is installed. Would you welcome them with open arms and flowers? I thought not.

On an interesting aside, I noticed that Time magazine has anointed the "U.S. soldier" as their 'person' of the year. This strikes me as rather odd. If I was an Iraqi, I'd be struck much harder, but in a different way.

The Iraq war is certainly the biggest news story of the year....91 billion dollars and counting. And yes, I can certainly see honoring those on the ground. The vast majority have served their country honorably. I do have a great deal of contempt for guys like Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz, and Bush the Bungler, the clowns that sent these kids on the Neo-cons' Excellent Adventure.

My initial feeling is that the award should have gone to someone or group that got the Iraqi equation right. But then, these people like The Dixie Chicks or Janeane Garofalo were vilified, and I suspect are still regarded as traitors by some of the less than enlightened populace. So, Time makes the easy decision..After all CNN is a Time-Warner® Company.