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07/20/2004:

"A Nation Whose Govt Rules Only Its Capitol"

by Robert Fisk The Independent
NAJAF, 20 July 2004 — It was Afghanistan Mk2. For mile after mile south of Baghdad yesterday, the story was the same: Empty police posts, abandoned Iraqi Army and police checkpoints and a litter of burned-out American fuel tankers and rocket-smashed police vehicles down the main highway to Hilla and Najaf.

Iraqi government officials and Western diplomats tell journalists to avoid driving out of Baghdad; now I understand why. It is dangerous. But my own fearful journey far down Highway 8 — scene of the murder of at least 15 Westerners — proved that the American-appointed Iraqi government controls little of the land south of the capital. Only in the Sunni Muslim town of Mahmoudiya — scene of a car bomb that exploded outside an Iraqi military recruiting center last week — did I see Iraqi policemen. full article

Robert Fisk: Crisis of Information-Fallujah