Iraq:Tale of Three Cities by Moises Saman

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"Over a period of two months this spring, I was able to travel to different parts of Iraq and experience first hand the complexities and depth of the conflict, visually documenting the security and social situation in each of the three largest cities undergoing major military operations: Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul.

Five years on the war seems to be entering yet another new stage marked by back-room deals and fragile alliances between the Iraqi government (backed by American...
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"Over a period of two months this spring, I was able to travel to different parts of Iraq and experience first hand the complexities and depth of the conflict, visually documenting the security and social situation in each of the three largest cities undergoing major military operations: Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul.

Five years on the war seems to be entering yet another new stage marked by back-room deals and fragile alliances between the Iraqi government (backed by American military might) and its former enemies, Sunni and Shia militias that still effectively control many parts of the country. This new phase is proving somewhat effective in diminishing the levels of violence, especially in the Sunni heartland where most local tribes have allied themselves with the government and the US army in fighting al-Qaeda and their foreign militants bent on Jihad.

Baghdad remains the epicentre of the war, with its ethnically divided neighbourhoods now resembling a labyrinth of concrete blast walls separating Sunni and Shia enclaves. The vicious levels of violence that have engulfed this once beautiful city are evident in the decaying architecture that bears the scars of five years of war. Some parts of Baghdad now resemble Kabul or Mogadishu, no longer the majestic and cosmopolitan Arab capital of the 1970s.
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