:
Th Jan 26 -

FROM REPORTERS' NOTEBOOKS -

This has become a new variation of a weblog. Are they worth reading? They may provide some extra "color" or texture as far as background features of the main stories. I expect we're going to see more of them approaching this weekend's Iraqi elections.
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#) Shuster's Baghdad Diary:

*If U.S. soldiers respond to any convoy ambush by going en-masse into the neighborhood, they would be looking for a needle in a haystack, because few Iraqis in these areas have shown any willingness to identify the insurgents in their midst...

There are some U.S. forces that have found Iraqis they can work with. But many American units we've seen are clearly on their own. And the glares they get from Iraqis... well, it is truly chilling.*

:: Shuster: MSNBC ::
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#) Dana Lewis Notebook:

He has an informal portrait of
and interview with General Petraeus.

:: Lewis: FoxNews ::
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#) Abu Harith in Hit, Iraq:

*Children in Iraq are off school at the moment...

Now, we just try to keep them safe and entertained. They have their television, their satellite TV (which they love), their computers... it keeps them diverted. Before kids would play with their kites, their paper airplanes... it's very different now!*

:: BBC Iraq Election Log ::
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#) F of D - Grassroots:

Intisar reports that the "Fighters of the Army of Mouhammad" are terrorizing citizens in Babel province, especially in the northern region... Threat comes through messages left at citizens’ doors...

The fuel crisis got worse in Al Hilla, making this problem the talk of the day. Despite the students’ transportation being interrupted due to the spring holiday, the transport fares doubled during the Eid. The main cause was the rise in the price of gas today, now 750 dinars per liter.

Electricity cut-offs are still between 18 and 22 hours a day.
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And there's a report of the Refugee Controversy worsening in Kirkuk, where the EICI allowed tens of thousands of "refugees," who arguably are not really from that city, to register for the election.

Their correspondent in Tamm'im Providence says the Iraqi Turkmen Front is threatening to withdraw from the elections, and the Arabic United Front already has withdrawn from the elections over the controversy.

:: FoD: Citizen Journalists ::

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