Bizarre Bazaar
Postcards from Around the World
ABC News' Terry McCarthy has been reporting on war, peace, and everything in between from all around the world for 20 years. He writes about daily life in the areas he is reporting from.
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Garbage Bombs
July 22, 2006 1:47 PM
At first, I thought the piles of garbage that we could see along the streets in Baghdad were simply evidence of slovenliness in the midst of war. People were too worried about their personal survival to care much about where they threw their trash, I surmised.
But we looked into it, and a much more ominous explanation emerged. Many of the roadside bombs in Baghdad -- they call them IEDs here, or Improvised Explosive Devices -- are hidden in garbage piles. On dirt roads outside the city the insurgents generally bury their bombs, but with the hardtop roads inside the city they need to conceal them over ground -- and trash is a convenient cover.
Which makes the job of garbage collection extremely dangerous -- in the last year 350 garbage collectors have been killed. According to the head of Baghdad’s municipal garbage services that makes garbage collection the third most dangerous job in the city after the police and the army. And for wages of about $5 a day. Some of the collectors have died by inadvertently setting off bombs as they scoop up piles of waste. Others are shot by the insurgents for informing the police when they find a device. Now there are some neighborhoods where garbage collectors will simply not go to work, because insurgents will shoot at them to prevent them clearing the streets at all.
Put this together with Baghdad’s summer temperatures -- regularly above 110 degrees, with spikes up to 130 -- and you get a rather smelly problem. In many parts of the city residents now set fire to their garbage in the streets -- creating another horrendous smell. A city of 5 million people takes a lot of maintaining. But it is when the system starts to break down that you really notice it.
July 22, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (28)
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We arent the worlds police!! then why is it every time someone somewhere some how always gets the USA to try & broker deals or peace or save them from somebody after they provoked or started a war they couldnt finish..if we dont say or do something like now in lebanon we get cursed ,if we do say something we get cursed because they dont want to hear the truth about themselves, its about time the middle east grows up and joins the 21st century. yes AMERICA is the greatese place on earth to live thats why so many are trying to come here even if they hate us they love the money and freedoms we have here. In the arab countries the only RESPECT is for the man who has the biggest baddest or most weapons and is fanatical enough to use them. if that is respect i guess we might earn some sooner or later.., because in those areas if we dont take those weapons in with us do you really think anyone would think we were seriousss?? WE SEND BILLIONS OF $$$$$$ EVERY YEAR TO THIRD WORLD NATIONS we send food clothing medicine doctors and money after earthquakes,floods,tusnami,volcanic eruptions i cant imagian why they would hate us. we loan billions of dollars and forgive billions of dollars of debt from nations who cant pay us but can live in lavish homes owm thousands of everything they buy but pay the people 40$ A year while spending millions on weapons.AUGUST 3rd i go vote on my ballet willbe 3 republican & 8 democrat votes i dont vote the party i vote the man for the job i guess it wasnt as funny as you thought it was or maybe by your name you live in a country that dont have that choice available to you!!Ido support bush & our troops that dont mean i agree with everything he has or will do but he was elected to do the job not me. i guess republicans not supporting PRESIDENT BUSH is about the same as the story of nobody i every talked to voted for BILL CLINTON but he won office 2 times also think about it thats funny haha.. TO BAD MORE COUNTRYS OVER SEAS DONT HAV BALLS LIKE ENGLAND DOES AND SUPPORT US MORE BECAUSE SOONER OR LATER THEY WILL HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THIS ISLAMIC POPULATION & WHO DO YOU THINK THEY WILL BE BEGGING FOR HELP? I HOPE WE GIVE AS MUCH HELP AS WE GET. GOD BLESS THIS GREAT COUNTRY AND HER FIGHTING FORCES BECAUSE ONE DAY YOU MAY NEED THIER HELP***
Posted by: ARLIE O | Jul 28, 2006 6:49:33 PM
It shocks me there are so many comic book intellectuals here! I surf the web and read alot from many, many sources.
There are many who call themselves Christian (Kristian) and haven't the slightest idea what it means.
Posted by: Dale | Oct 15, 2006 12:50:10 AM
WHAT DID HE TRY TO SAY????????{kristian}???? COMIC BOOK INTELLECTUALS???HE SURFS THE WEB AND READS ALOT BUT DONT LOOK AT THE REAL BIG PICTURES..THIS IS THE FIRST DALE I SEEN THAT SOUNDS ISLAMIC TO ME!!!!HAVE A NICE DAY.. USA FREEDOM TO VOICE YOUR OPIONIONS WITH PRIDE..
Posted by: ARLIE O | Oct 17, 2006 7:52:13 PM
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