Joel Brinkley's story from today's NYTimes caught my eye: it seems the 77 Construction Co. (the majority owner of which is the Kurdish Barzani family) cannot safely transport their 9000 lb. concrete barriers to Baghdad.
But in the last week, production has stopped because guerrillas -- apparently looking for any possible vulnerability of the occupation authorities -- have begun attacking the trucks carrying the barriers south to Baghdad. Four trucks have been hit in the last two weeks, and all four were damaged. At several points on the highway south, piles of these several-ton concrete walls lie akimbo beside the road.
During one attack, five guerrillas armed with AK-47 rifles stopped a truck, and one of them warned the driver: " `Stop supporting the Americans. If you continue, we will kill you and burn your truck,' " said Yaser Kopak, the company's general manager.
As a result, the drivers are scared to make the trip. So, 600 of the giant barriers sit in the company's yard, enough to create a mile-long barrier, waiting for allied forces to provide protection for the drivers.
I found this story to be quite telling. The opposition--whoever they are--are finding ingenious ways to thwart and destabilize the occupation. Blowing up the barriers intended to make assets explosion-proof before they can be deployed. Say what we want about these "dead-enders," they clearly have a game plan with enormously imaginative trick plays.
Such is the state of the occupation. Look at the conundrum: despite glossy rhetoric about democracy and a thriving civil society in Iraq, providing security for an effort to provide security is much more dificult than we thought.
Combine this with other attacks on CPA-trained Iraqi police, attacts on aid providers, the UN, and anyone seen as aiding the cause of the occupational force, and this strategy is bound to be taking its toll. The fragile hold we may have on the hearts, minds and (probably most importantly) the wallets of Iraqis continues to ebb.