On November 1, 2006, Anthony Shadid, author of Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War, gave a talk in San Francisco, CA of his trips to Iraq from 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2006.
Shadid, a reporter for the Washington Post, based in Beirut, spoke of Iraq as a country that has lost its resilience. He said it was a hopeless country because many have left the country, and unlike the prior bombings, where people would get up the next day to open shops, the streets are empty.
When he was there in October 2006, he saw a government deprived of legitmacy. Legitimacy is illusive where there is United States military presence because the United States seems to have the final say in times of conflicts. There is a clash of political cultures. Power is decentralized to a point where authority is elusive.
In the streets are torn posters with optimistic words on the future that are isolated and out of context. It is not known what the war's legacy will be for the region.
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