Word: days
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...first, the day's gossip...
...Christmas Day bombing attempt tells us that anybody, anywhere can wage war on the U.S., with or without promoting or invoking bin Laden's name. But with each failure of al-Qaeda's, and with the mess al-Qaeda has left in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it should be clearer to the world that it's time to get over bin Laden and start dealing with more serious problems...
...live and work near the Hamra Hotel compound, where many foreign journalists live and work. On Monday, my main assignments for the day were positively mundane: first, to get a plumber to fix the burst pipe at the office, and then head over to the oil ministry, where Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell were signing a 20-year deal to develop a supergiant Iraqi oil field. The agreement had been heralded as a cornerstone for the future of an Iraq safe enough for investors to unload tens of billions of dollars, perhaps one that would see Iraq surpass Saudi...
...from the Babylon, so we decided to make a fast break for the front entrance of the Hamra - not knowing we were headed toward danger. As we drove up to where we could see the front checkpoint, we arrived at the opening scenes of the third bombing of the day. Hotel guards were in a five-minute standoff they would lose, firing their AK-47s at a gunman on the other side of the checkpoint. My driver slammed on the brakes, put the car into reverse and wove around cars, people and concrete barriers, right up to the entrance...
...colleague is doing his best to calm his driver whose brother is missing. Another is showing the shrapnel from what is likely a piece of the exploded minibus. It crashed through his window on the eighth floor of the Hamra Hotel. In my mind I walk back through the day and I'm gripped by the scent of oranges, which were splattered around the bomb site, small spheres of color in contrast to the blackened rubble. It kept cutting through the smells of charred vehicles and humans as I watched the aftermath, waiting in vain to speak to a mother...