Convoys, checkpoints create traffic chaos
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The Baghdad traffic was at a standstill.
Cars, trucks and minibuses lined bumper-to-bumper from each direction of the crossroads as frazzled policemen tried to ease the jam with little success.
Horns, dust and frustrated sighs merged into one as thousands of drivers and their passengers sat motionless in what has become a typical scene of mayhem on the streets of the Iraqi capital.
Checkpoints cut across all main roads in Baghdad, manned by soldiers or policemen who scan the traffic for possible car bombs. A spike in attacks at the end of September prompted the authorities to step up their monitoring.
In addition, guards have been given new explosive-detecting gadgets, which look like a cross between a gun and a small drill.
They walk down the side of each vehicle, holding the contraption out in front. It is supposed to signal the presence of TNT but unfortunately has been known to be set off by strong perfume.
The tighter checks mean traffic must wait longer, much to everyone’s frustration.
Other delay-factors include US military or diplomatic convoys, which close down whole sections of road to allow a diplomat or military official to go to a meeting. Iraqi Government convoys of SUVs, equipped with flashing red-and-blue lights and loud sirens, also cause havoc, taking over entire lanes as they charge past.
I was a casualty of a checkpoint-convoy combo this morning as I headed to a press conference at the Iraqi National Museum.
admin @ October 21, 2008