Iraq blog report

Faiza writes about the experiences of some people who fled to Baghdad from Fallujah this month. If you haven't already read it, here is the link... She begins; I thought to meet them and listen to what they are saying, and write it here. I realized that the profession of journalism needs a tough heart to listen to tragic stories - and then smile and write them in a calm way, to write the truth. Well, it seems Faiza gritted her teeth and toughened her heart and wrote what she heard; the confusion, the shock, the dusty, grimy, day to day survival that nobody seems to want to know about, because it is so unfortunately common. There is a sense of the relief that these women might have felt in finally telling their story to someone.

Zeyad's opinion of the new flag is probably shared by Riverbend.

Ays reports roads to Al-Aadamiah neighborhood north of Baghdad are blocked, some are expecting "bad news", Ays says he hopes it is just rumours and that it may be only checkpoints.

Omar notices news in the Al-Sabah newspaper; "a local armed group confronts Al-Sadr militiaâ€‌ I must admit that I felt relieved at first. At last, some Iraqi civilians took it upon themselves to fight the terrorists. But after a minute of thinking, this question came to my mind; is this what we want to see, Iraqi civilians carry arms to fight the thugs?