The Curfew Continues

The live shot position moved to the garden to avoid snipers on the roofs.

Following the bombing of the Samarra mosque Baghdad is under it’s fourth day of curfew. We had planed to make a run to the airport, along with the rest of the city’s population, but no planes are flying due to problems with the airport’s fuel supply and the on-going curfew. I can’t imagine what the issue is with the fuel as no planes have taken off for three days.

Technically military and security elements are allowed to move through the city during the curfew, but those security teams that rely on blending into the normal traffic flow as a tactic (low-profile) are at a huge disadvantage. Moving around during a curfew highlights the fact that you're a security team and not just an average Iraqi going about his business, so we sit tight and wait.

We did take a short trip yesterday and I was struck at how deserted the streets were. To me it looked like a scene out of the old Clint Eastwood movies where he walks down an empty Mexican street, the only movement is a dust cloud and the mangy dog trotting up the sidewalk.