Former Iraqi minister of state for foreign affairs Rafi al-Issawi visited Fallujah, 60 kilometers west of Baghdad, on August 22. Issawi, who resigned on August 1 when the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front withdrew from the government, visited the city with other members of the Sunni Accordance Bloc, al-Tawafuq. 

The group toured the city and met with senior officials and community leaders in a production designed to show that the city has moved from being the most violent to the most peaceful in Iraq. 

The Iraqi Islamic Party's TV channel, al-Baghdad, accompanied Issawi on his tour and broadcast some of the scenes from inside Fallujah. The footage exposed the painful truth of the situation here. The streets were deserted, shops were closed and people appeared with sullen faces. 

"Of course we are happy to have our city peaceful, but not this way," lawyer Ahmed Hammad told Inter Press Service (IPS). "The local police guided and supported by the US Army have prevented car movements for nearly three months now. They should not be proud of having the city quiet in a way that kills everybody with hunger and disease." 

Some residents in Fallujah praised the police, others described policemen as savages. "Those who are not Fallujah citizens in the force must be expelled and replaced by our own men," Nassir al-Dulaymi, a former police officer, told IPS. "They swear at people in the street and arrest people as they please, and of course there is no real government to hold them accountable for their crimes. Probably they would be rewarded for their savage acts." 

"The media in the West are lying about Fallujah by saying everything is well," said the journalist. "What is so good about a city that lives with no electricity, no water, no fuel, very expensive life necessities, and most important, with no vehicles? Moreover the unemployment is incredibly high." 

Others said members of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic party and the Sunni Accordance Bloc are weak and self-interested politicians. 

"The Islamic Party and its allies convinced us that the situation would be much improved after the elections, and we fell for it," 60-year-old shopkeeper Sulayman Mahmood told IPS. "All they did was give cover to the sectarian government as well as getting rich, and having thousands of bodyguards." 

A tour of the city on foot gives the impression of the Dark Ages. People are back to riding donkeys. Everyone IPS spoke with complained of the extremely high price of basic goods, and a lack of work that could raise money to meet those needs. 

"A cylinder of cooking gas costs US$22, and it is less than half full," said Um Ali from the Shurta district west of the city. "Groceries are too expensive, and we do not know what to eat, especially since the food ration is practically nothing. Our sons are either unemployed or in jail." 

The city has also been affected by the US and Iraqi authorities' dependence on tribes in Fallujah and throughout Iraq's western al-Anbar province. Sheikhs are the real leaders now.