The BBC’s John Simpson paints a gloomy picture of the situation in Baghdad these days, opining that the signs of death and widespread despondency and anger in the Iraqi capital “represent a major failure of the hopes and expectations which many Iraqis entertained four years ago.”

BBC:

The most common sight, apart from police and army roadblocks, are the black banners on walls and fences announcing people’s deaths.

And the most common feeling you come across is a kind of slow-burning, gloomy anger.

These things represent a major failure of the hopes and expectations which many Iraqis entertained four years ago.

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