Sugar the pill

Who would've thought that Iraq Prime Minister Ayad Allawi wouldsugarcoat Iraq for America:

In a visit to Washington last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Iraq as a nation that's safer and stronger with Saddam gone. He said the violence is happening mostly in certain pockets and is not widespread. His words echoed those of President Bush.

But some people who live and work here - including U.S. civilian contractors, security firms and charity groups - see a deteriorating security situation. Hashami, 41, said she switched off a broadcast of one of Allawi's Washington appearances because "he was not real." Just this evening, she said, she and the children came across a car with two dead men inside, apparently ambushed and shot.

(snip)

Last week, Allawi cited several cities that are safe compared to hostile areas. Among them were Ramadi, a city about 60 miles west of Baghdad; the northern oil city of Kirkuk, and Basra, the major city and province in Southern Iraq overseen by the British.

But Ramadi has seen hostilities recently. On Sunday a U.S. soldier was killed there by a mortar round. Kirkuk is also tense with struggles between ethnic groups, and one of its main highways is known as a "sniper alley." Basra, Centurion said, has been "fraught with attacks on a daily basis." Two British soldiers were killed there Tuesday.