Baghdad: A commemoration....or what?

Salam Pax, of Baghdad blogging fame at the height of the Iraq War - remember that awfully tagged attack on Baghdad said to be Shock and Awe? - writes on Global Voices on how Iraqis see 9 April 2003. Was it a liberation? Is there something to commemorate?

"While the 9th of April 2003 was a defining day in the history of modern Iraq most of us Iraqis can’t really agree on what to call it. Is it the Fall of Baghdad or the Liberation of Baghdad? Using one or the other pins you to one side or the other. Sitting on the fence is difficult.

In previous years, the Iraqi government used to mark the day with a public holiday, calling it simply ‘Baghdad Day’. That’s good fence sitting, don’t you think? This year though Baghdad Day wasn’t a public holiday. A couple of thousand people from both ends of the Shia and Sunni spectrums went out on demonstrations but millions of Iraqis just went on with their lives as if it was any other day.

The Iraqi blogosphere reflects this collective shrug. Out of more than 100 blogs listed on Iraqi Blog Count, only 11 bloggers wrote about this day and they were mostly bloggers living outside Iraq. But before I move to them I want to turn your attention to a blogger writing from within Iraq first.

Baghdad Dentist, whose last post was exactly one month ago, puts together an insightful situation report on Baghdad six years after that eventful day. If you’re going to take a look at one blog in this summary make it this one. From the security situation to fun, it’s all there and in bulletin form".

Continue reading here.

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