NYTimes published an article today talking about the returning Iraqi refugees. And for some reason, they started telling important pieces of the truth.

"A small fraction of the millions of refugees who fled Iraq have come back. While the government trumpeted their return as proof of newfound security, migration experts said most of them were forced back by expired visas and depleted savings."

I have referred to this earlier. This is true for most of the people going back to Iraq. I guarantee you, if you give them a place where they can stay in a legal manner and find a decent job, they will not think about returning to Iraq for a long long time.

One thing I did not like about that article is the fact that it is showing only Sunni examples of the story.  The same situation goes for Shiaa people whom have lost their fathers, mothers, brothers and sister, and their houses and belongings. And the same suffering they are having one coming back to the hell called Iraq.

This on-going propaganda about the "improvements" in security and the "return" of refugees is related to the withdrawal of the American troops. The Iraqi government has no problem lying about it as long as the money is falling into their pockets. The Americans feel that they have had enough of this war, and let Iraq go to hell. And the only losers in this "solution" is the Iraqi people.

I have spent about 4 months in Baghdad from May to September. Believe me, the situation is not getting better. Few days of relative improvements pass on small pieces of the neighborhoods and this soon collapses when one of the young people in the neighborhood is found dead or kidnapped. The electricity is very much fluctuating. But in the best cases (which happens once a month), we have like 6 hours of electricity, not continuously of course. And some days just pass by with no electricity at all. The tap water is basically not healthy to drink, especially after the Cholera spreading in Baghdad. Most of the people just do not have the money to buy purified water. So they try to boil the tap water and drink it.

In Baghdad you will need a big pile of money to spend on electricity. Depending on the area you live in, the price of the single Ampere from the neighborhood generator is set. Some areas pay 15$/ampere per month and some pay little less and other pay a little more. As the neighborhood generator is owned by one or more of the neighbors, which are basically human, so they seek the maximum profit. So, you will have a maximum of 8 hours per day of Generator electricity. To go about that, you will have to buy a small private generator, for about 250$ to 400$ depending on the quality you would like to have. Of course these small generators are Chinese and the bad Chinese kind (the cheapest). This drags us to another topic. The fuel to run the generator and the car (if you have one). Of course waiting in the fuel line for 12 to 14 hours will become your hobby after knowing that the black market price is more than 1$/liter. As you count the number of liters you need for the generator daily, and the car fuel also. You will find out that the salary will be enough to provide electricity to your house, and your kids can sleep well at the 40C summer nights in Baghdad. And you will have to figure out another way to feed them.

The other dilemma that you will have to face is the propane-gas for the kitchen. The single tank will cost you about $20. You might be lucky to get one per month for about $5 from the local area council until they get killed or blown away by the other people who sell it for 20$.

This is only a small sample of what the Iraqi person have in mind while living in Baghdad. And this is assuming that you are SAFE in there.