Persistent Death and Violence Shadow Everyday Iraqis
MALVEAUX: Violence in Iraq is not letting up. Another round of car bomb explosions in Baghdad left at least 13 people dead, more than 50 hurt. Nearly 100 people have been killed over the past week in Iraq as, militants with al-Qaeda ties, they are fighting government security forces. Now, these two sides, they have been battling for control over the western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. The violence has now been spilling into the capital. People are afraid the whole country could explode into a sectarian war. The threat of instant death is part of everyday life. For many Iraqis, even just walking out the door can be a very risky move. My co-anchor, Michael Holmes, is reporting from Baghdad.</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne. Over the last week, of course, we have literally heard the car bombs as they have exploded all around the city. Dozens of people died. Many, many more were wounded as they always are, in terrible ways. Now, it's hard, of course, for people not here to imagine what it must like to live like that every day. Well, we went to speak to some ordinary Iraqis about living in Baghdad today.</s>HOLMES: It is security-camera video posted on YouTube that we can't independently verify, but what it shows is chilling. This is in the commercial area of Al Senar (ph) in central Baghdad. Amid the usual traffic chaos, a small yellow car double-parks. The driver casually walks away. People go about their business, until -- the camera dislodged by the blast cannot show the death and maiming the bomb caused, one of so many this month. Such is life in Baghdad today. Death can come at any time. Targets usually not government buildings, these days, security too tight for that, but city streets, marketplaces, commercial areas, bustling with everyday citizens of a fearful city.</s>THAMER JAAFAR, BARBER, FATHER OF THREE (via translator): If we see someone park their car by the shop, we have to check their I.D.s and what they are doing.</s>HOLMES: Thamer Jaafar is a 50-year-old barber. Each day is worse than the day before, he tells us.</s>JAAFAR (via translator): You try and live your life. Despite the pain and grief, you smile and laugh as much as you can each day you are alive.</s>HOLMES: There is a sense of foreboding intertwined with daily violence here, a fear that what is happening just to the west of Anbar Province could erupt completely, making what is happening here seem mild in comparison. The Shia-dominated government of Nouri al-Maliki continues to keep the army out of Fallujah, demanding Sunni tribes there deal with the influx of the al Qaeda-inspired fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and other extremist groups, as well. So far, it's a stand off, albeit with regular skirmishes and clashes. But the fighters are, according to reports from inside Fallujah, becoming more of a presence, not less, passing out leaflets announcing a strict Islamic code, running checkpoints, making fiery speeches that denounce the government. In Baghdad, just 70 kilometers away, life is a lottery, a Russian roulette of live or die every time you leave the house, despite the city being awash in security.</s>HAIDAR AL-HAJ JALAL, VEGETABLE SELLER (via translator): You depend on God when you leave your house, because you don't know what fate holds for you.</s>HOLMES: It is a terrible fact that it is difficult to meet anyone who hasn't lost someone, friend or family, to the violence these past years.</s>ASSAD MASHAI, FATHER OF TWO (via translator): I've lost many people close to me over the years. All those who die are Iraqis. It's not each person's grief. It's joint grief.</s>HOLMES: With national elections in April, many see Nouri al-Maliki unlikely to offer major concessions to Sunnis any time soon. And many Sunni leaders in Anbar province maintain their own hard line. Meanwhile, those al-Qaeda-linked fighters feed on the dissent, but for ordinary citizens, politics and power plays mean little. Just getting home alive at the end of the day is all that counts.</s>HOLMES: And, you know, that's the thing, Suzanne. The vast majority of those victims are just people trying to live their lives. You see a lot of different numbers for the monthly death toll. But one group, Iraq Body Count, they've got a pretty good database, a very detailed one, and they say that so far this month, we're getting upwards to 700 people who have died violently in Iraq. And you can multiply that many times over for the wounded. Suzanne?</s>MALVEAUX: So sad. Thank you, Michael. The leading Syrian opposition group is threatening a pull-out of this week's peace talks in Geneva. Opposition leaders give the United Nations until 2:00 Eastern to rescind an invitation to made to Iran to join talks or for Iran to meet certain conditions, including with drawing its troops from Syria. Iran is a staunch supporter of the Assad regime. If the talks do go forward, it's going to be the first time that Syria's government and opposition leaders have met face-to-face. The goal of the talks, to set up a transitional government that would end almost three years of violence. And in New Zealand, a strong earthquake has hit the lower part of the country's north island. The 6.2 magnitude quake hit 70 miles northeast of Wellington. That is the country's capital. It rattled buildings and knocked out power, impacting more than 5,000 folks there. Now, that quake also brought down this giant eagle sculpture you sigh there hanging in an airport. And Governor Chris Christie about to be sworn in for a second term, but the festivities being overshadowed by the growing scandals in New Jersey.