Word: checkpoints
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...Sunnis in Baghdad, the sight of policemen is cause for concern rather than reassurance. Traffic checkpoints are especially perilous. Recently three TIME staff members--brothers, all Sunni--were detained at a police checkpoint for five hours. They began to worry when a Shi'ite friend who had been riding with them was allowed to leave. When the men showed their media badges, issued by the U.S. military, the cops accused them of being American spies. "We'll send you to the Interior Ministry," a cop said, obviously enjoying their discomfort as he bundled them into the back of a pickup...
Almost every Sunni family I meet seems to have a horror story that starts with a policeman at a checkpoint asking for identification. It's profiling, Iraqi style. The harassment ranges from getting insulting, sniggering comments ("Nice car. Where did you steal it?") to being handcuffed, blindfolded and hauled off to prison or, worse, a torture chamber. The most vulnerable are those who have obviously Sunni names, such as Omar. I have interviewed more than a dozen Omars, including two of Mahmud's nephews, who have endured varying degrees of persecution from police or militias. As a precaution, many Sunnis...
...were sent to do a mission - I cannot give more details than that - but we lost our way. I was driving the car with two friends, both 24 years old. We passed two checkpoints manned by the Lebanese army and were waved through. We approached a third checkpoint and all of a sudden I saw Syrian flags. About 70 to 80 m away, I stopped the car immediately...
...into the Lebanese soldiers who had been guarding the previous checkpoint. It should have been members of a Christian battalion, which were our allies, but the night before they were replaced by Shi'a soldiers. Still, we felt safe to be captured by the Lebanese...
...That sense of lukewarm support is strongest in places like Al Jidadeh, a short drive outside the city. The big crossing point in the commute between Beirut and Damascus is nearly always crowded. But for the past week, say Syrian relief workers, managing the checkpoint has been like trying to force a sea through a tiny spigot. The recent conflict may have created as many as 700,000 refugees; more than 200,000 of them have journeyed overland to Syria since the fighting began, that number surging over the past few days, as the risk of air and sea travel...