Familiar misery in Iraq getting old

'“Seven years!” he shouted, amid a crowd in the dark, claustrophobic warren of Majid Market. “Seven years, and these explosions are still going on?”

An argument ensued, as it often does here. “The first thing in a constitution is the rights of the citizens,” he said. “It’s the respect of the people. There’s no respect here. All we hear are delusions and promises on paper.”

At least you have the freedom to speak, a cousin pointed out. A friend insisted that the dead were really martyrs for a democratic future. These were points heard often after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

They are uttered less now, especially after two days of some of the most vicious bloodletting since 2003 that killed at least 122 people, seven months of political dysfunction that at least hints at a failed state and seven years of occupation, war and misery that have turned disillusionment into disgust.'