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Daily Suicide Bombings Keep Iraqis in State of Shock

As daily bombings and killings in Iraq have risked becoming regarded as mundane and normal, attention has shifted to the Iraqi government’s apparent lack of recognition of the human cost its country’s unstable security situation entails.
Shi'ite women react during a mass funeral for victims of Wednesday's bomb attacks on a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad September 12, 2013. The co-ordinated car and suicide bomb attack on the Shi'ite mosque in the Iraqi capital killed at least 33 people on Wednesday evening, police and medical sources said. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13IL5
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Amid daily suicide bombings that have become part of the identity of their cities, Iraqis describe their lives. Ali Wajih, a young Iraqi poet, told Al-Monitor, “I’m no longer intimidated by death. Do not worry, I'm hallucinating. I talk about death, and laugh with my friends. Haven’t I told you that death has become trivial?”

Some Iraqi intellectuals blame media outlets for disregarding the human aspects of the victims of bombings and acts of violence, simply counting them on a daily basis and following up on the government’s reactions and stated measures. They usually represent repeated official discourse on the additional security measures, closure of roads and new arrests.

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