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There's more violence every day.

Article Excerpt
The destruction of Samarra's Al Askari mosque on February 22 set off a wave of unrest across the country, and news of sectarian clashes has been pouring incessantly out of Iraq ever since. The Najaf province remains relatively calm, but that's not to say that tensions haven't increased. Anger toward Americans is more palpable; on convoys, people might spit or throw rocks at you, and this is a new development here.

When I first heard about the Samarra bombing, I was having a meeting with the mayor of Man athera, just south of Najaf. The Al Askari mosque is one of the holiest sites for Shiites; I knew immediately that people were going to be enraged. Although Samarra is a distance north from Manathera, my immediate concern was my team. It's difficult to communicate our vulnerabilities in this situation, but try to imagine riding with your friends through downtown Austin surrounded by a thousand or more angry maniacs throwing rocks and firebombs at you. Once a single vehicle is disabled, you're pretty much toast. I was trained as a lieutenant...

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