the central government is not relevant

A memo from Zalmay Khalilzad, American ambassador to Iraq, to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice: "Snapshots from the Office: Public Affairs Staff Show Strains of Social Discord." Slate's Today's Papers flags this as today's "must-read," and I agree.

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"...[E]ven upscale neighborhoods... have visibly deteriorated."

"...[A] Sunni [employee] said that people in her middle-class neighborhood are harassing women and telling them to cover up and stop using cell phones (suspected channel to licentious relationships with men).... A female in the [Public Affairs Section] cultural section is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats in May.... People who wear jeans in public have come under attack from what staff members describe as Wahabis and Sadrists."

"An Arab newspaper editor [said] he is preparing an extensive survey of ethnic cleansing, which he said is taking place in almost every Iraqi province, as political parties and their militias are seemingly engaged in tit-for-tat reprisals..."

In a country where many people get "one hour of power for every six without," a "staff member reported that a friend lives in a building that houses a new minister; within 24 hours of his appointment, her building had city power 24 hours a day."

"In April, employees began reporting changes in demeanor of guards at green zone checkpoints. They seem to be more militia-like... guards held [an employee's] embassy badge up and proclaimed loudly to nearby passers-by "Embassy" as she entered. Such information is a death sentence if overheard by the wrong people... We cannot call employees in on weekends or holidays without blowing their 'cover.'"

"One colleague told us he feels 'defeated' by the circumstances... Another employee tells us that life outside the Green Zone has become 'emotionally draining.' He lives in a mostly Shiite area and claims to attend a funeral 'every evening.'"

"The central government... is not relevant; even local mukhtars have been displaced or coopted by militias. People no longer trust their neighbors."