Compare and contrast

Baghdad Burning's Riverbend in "Bleak Eid" tells us how it really is in Iraq in the ugly, squalid run-up to the so-called election. Contrast this with the lavish celebrations in Washington and Bush's cynical depiction of "freedom" coming to Iraq. In Biblical language, water is always symbolic of freedom, justice, things going as they should. "As the waters cover the earth" is God's promise. So why does Baghdad have no water, along with no freedom of travel? And why are people being threatened with punishment if they don't vote? Something is very very rotten here.