No cheering crowds for Powell in Baghdad [View All]

[Nambe]

--- Secretary Colin Powell, like hundreds of other Americans on a mission to run and reconstruct Iraq, spent most of his time in Baghdad inside a heavily protected ''security bubble'' on the west bank of the Tigris river. ---

The isolation and obsession with security could be an ominous sign for the future of the U.S. occupation, which faces what Powell called a ''challenging'' security situation. ---

Iraqi security personnel are suspect. The U.S. company which runs the Rashid Hotel, a subsidiary of Cheney's old company Halliburton, prefers Ghurkas from Nepal. Ghurkas guard each of the 12 floors 24 hours a day, at an estimated cost to the U.S taxpayer of more than $120,000 a month. ---

'The Americans really need to wrap this up (the military occupation) as soon as possible or they are going to have big problems,'' said the Arab official. ---

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