Word: iraq
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...sensed Mama Ann was changing her mind for no good reason, I started to wonder what my good reasons for supporting Obama were. Did I really think that he'd get us out of Iraq all that much faster, that he could actually deliver health care to everyone or that he'd erase the anger between the parties and races? This is a guy, after all, who is no better than I am at stopping his grandmother from saying racist things. Sure, I like that Obama makes people feel optimistic and willing to give, but if I really liked that...
Despite his backslapping reputation, McCain will play rough if he thinks it will help him win. During the Florida primary, he charged, dubiously, that his chief rival for the nomination, Mitt Romney, supported a "timetable" for withdrawal from Iraq, a claim based on a misreading of a single quote. More recently, he claimed in a television commercial that Obama canceled a visit to wounded troops because television cameras were not allowed. The charge lacked evidence, but it still managed to knock the Obama campaign off message. "The status quo means McCain loses. He's got to change things," says Peter...
...national police couldn't have done the job alone. As in other Sunni areas of Iraq, the establishment last March of a local anti-Qaeda "Awakening" group was a major factor in Samarra's turnaround. According to the U.S. military, there are currently more than 2,000 Awakening members operating in Samarra - far more than there are policemen. "We work together in checkpoints and as fighters," says Mohammed. "There is no operation that isn't a joint operation." Their cooperation is key in an atmosphere where many Sunni residents still openly accuse the police force of being dominated by outsider...
...progress in Samarra, like much of Iraq, is precarious. Though insurgent attacks have dropped dramatically, "the biggest concern now is unemployment, because it directly affects the security situation," said General Mohammed. And reconstructing the shrine is central to the prospects of a city whose economy has for years depended largely on religious tourism. "Ninety percent of the people lost their jobs [as a result of the bombing]," says Mohammed. And unemployment creates fertile ground for insurgent recruitment. "When someone finds himself without work for three years, he'll do anything for money - even setting off explosions or killing people," Mohammed...
...Kageleiry says Samarra is now "better than it has ever been" and "the biggest obstacles standing in the way are lack of electricity and water." But as residents reveal, it's a sizable obstacle. And given its centrality to both sectarian conflict and the prospects for reconciliation in Iraq, Samarra has a lot riding on its success. "What they should do is take away all these concrete barriers and let all the [Shi'ite] pilgrims come and go. To hell with sectarianism. They are welcome," said one shopkeeper - a reassuring voice in a cloud of tension on the street...