WTF Is It Now?!?

McCain visit propaganda, say beleaguered Baghdadians
“Like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime,” only heavily guarded with 100+ soldiers and armored Humvees surrounding you, sharpshooters on rooftops, and attack helicopters circling overhead.

A day after members of an Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain and Rep. Mike Pense (R-etard) pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad’s central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about their conclusions.

“What are they talking about?” Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “The security procedures were abnormal!”

The delegation arrived at the market on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

“They paralyzed the market when they came,” Mr. Faiyad said during an interview in his shop on Monday. “This was only for the media.”

"They sealed off the area, put themselves in flak jackets and walked in the middle of armed American soldiers," said Karim Abdullah, a 37-year-old textile merchant. "I mean, really -- what the fuck?"

Fucked fact: "Iraqi figures estimate that civilian deaths from violence across the country rose by 13 percent last month, despite the security crackdown in Baghdad. Data compiled by several ministries put civilian deaths in March at 1,861 - compared to 1,645 in February."