Rory McCarthy har en velskrevet sak i Guardian: Even the optimists are losing heart as Iraq goes from bad to worse. Han var i Irak i juni, og traff da noen idealistiske ungdommer i Hilla som drev nitid etterforskning for å stille saddams bødler for retten. Nå to måneder senere, må han sjokkert/frustrert erkjenne at ingen av hans irakiske venner er optimister lenger. Det går særlig på strøm og vannforsyningen. Irakerne forstår ikke at en regjering som kunne bruke 9 milliarder dollar i måneden på å erobre landet, ikke greier å få istand strømforsyningen på fire måneder.

Han gir konkrete eksempler på hvordan amerikanerne nå isolerer seg for å redusere risikoen. Hunker down.

Now US patrols in many of the most troubled areas of Baghdad appear to have been markedly reduced. Once, convoys of Humvees would roll down the high street in Karrada, past dozens of shops burgeoning with cheap fridges, air conditioners and televisions. Soldiers would stop to eat in some of the more crowded restaurants, but no longer. Better to cut patrols than to lose men, the commanders decided. Security outside US military bases is tighter and more paranoid than ever. A sign outside a recruiting station for the new Iraqi army warns people not to stop, stand or park near the entrance. The advice is given bluntly: «Violators are subject to deadly force.»

Også de sivile administratorene har mindre kontakt med irakere:

Officials working at the coalition provisional authority, the civilian administration ensconced in Saddam’s palace, used to slip away to meet Iraqis across town or to chat to journalists by a hotel pool. Now officials have been told they should not leave their «secure zone» without several close-protection bodyguards and at least two armoured four-wheel drives. Few bother chancing it at all.

I rettferdighetens navn: McCarthy finner også forbedringer: internettcafeer overalt, og mer handel.