NPR: Green Zone Residents, Iraqi Academics in Constant Fear

Green Zone Residents, Iraqi Academics in Constant Fear

Some Green Zone residents in Iraq apparently are as mad as hell and have decided not to take it anymore. So three unnamed State Department employees in Baghdad sat down with a reporter from McClatchy and aired their complaints about the security -- or the lack thereof -- in the Green Zone.

The zone has long been considered the safest part of the country because of the overwhelming U.S. military presence centered behind its walls in Baghdad, but the three U.S. embassy employees said they are increasingly angry over the lack of protection for those inside the zone. Bulletproof vests and helmets must be worn at all times -- except, apparently, when high-level visitors come from Washington, they say, to create the impression that the situation is safer than it really is.

But it doesn't always work. Just last week, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe told reporters that the situation in the Green Zone was "infinitely worse" than her visit there last year.

It's not just residents of the Green Zone concerned about their safety. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the university system in Iraq has almost been destroyed and, "Hundreds of professors and students have been killed or kidnapped, hundreds more have fled, and those who remain face daily threats of violence."

At the University of Baghdad alone, 78 professors have been killed.

To John Agresto, senior adviser to the higher-education ministry in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, it is clear why academics are targets. "University professors are usually more secular than the general population, more open-minded, interested in things other than religious proselytizing, devoted to academic interest more than religious causes," he says. "Their secular nature is what is getting them targeted."

Iraqi officials estimate that at least 30 percent of all professors, doctors, pharmacists and engineers who lived in Iraq prior to the U.S.-led invasion have now fled the country, the Chronicle reports.

1:57 PM ET | 05-16-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

When I was in Iraq i was stationed at Abu ghraib, there was an artillery piece test fired by the enemy in our sector and it was quickly moved. It was never mentioned in our briefings again. I am confiident that the enemy has more than what they were using in earlier stages of the war(and even now) but 122's are pretty common. though not as prevelant as 80s and 60's (all mortars)

Sent by Eric | 6:39 PM ET | 05-16-2007

Thank you for bringing up the death toll of some Iraqi civilians. I would like to to see daily reports about how the general Iraqui population, as well as members of parliament, has fared, with regard to deaths and disablement. The deaths of Iraqis should be equally newsworthy as the deaths of our soldiers.

Sent by jennifer | 6:04 AM ET | 05-17-2007

Following along with Jennifer's comment...not only have so many civilians been killed, thousands (10s of thousands? 100s of thousands?)of civilians fled Iraq. So if by some miracle the Iraqi democracy actually got off the ground, who will it be representing?

Sent by Sandy | 8:37 AM ET | 05-17-2007

I live in the Green Zone, and the McClatchy report is factually innaccurate. "Flak jackets" and helmets are not required to be worn at all times -- only when outside for exteded periods and only during a specific, heightened security posture. Sen. Snowe was here for about 15 hours; I've been here two years. I believe that I'm in a little better position to judge my security level, and it isn't appreciably any worse than it was in 2005. The three disgruntled State Department employees have a simple solution if they believe their personal safety is at risk: go home. All assignments in Iraq are voluntary; there is no such thing as "I have to be in Iraq."

Sent by Brad | 1:17 PM ET | 05-17-2007

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