NBC News State Department producer Elizabeth Leist followed Secretary of State Condi Rice to Baghdad over the weekend, but she never met an actual Iraqi. In a Blogging Baghdad entry, she describes suiting up in Kevlar jackets and green helmets for a ride from the airport to the Green Zone.
“The usually energetic press corps was silent for the entire ride from the airport – a sign we were all anxious to get off the road,” she says.
Once in the Green Zone — “a virtual American city” — she says “there is a feeling of safety inside the compound but also an unmistakable feeling of occupation. It’s an American oasis inside a large Middle Eastern country.” More…
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