The US has brought capitalism to Baghdad. For guns.

[kingjoshi]

Iraq has long been awash in guns. But after the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine in Samarra in late February, sectarian tensions exploded, and more Iraqis than ever have been buying, carrying and stockpiling weapons, adding an unnerving level of firepower to Baghdad's streets.

The average price for a Russian-made Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, which is perfectly legal here, has jumped to $290 from $112 in the past month, according to several gun dealers. Bullets have climbed to 33 cents each from 24 cents.

"I didn't like to do it," he said, "but I had to raise prices."

Still, he said, business was booming.

Wait, it gets better

The weapons flow from many places. Arms dealers say good, cheap ammunition comes from Syria, and scratched-and-dented assault rifles from Iran. Several dealers said former Iraqi Army soldiers were a reliable source of grenades.

After Mr. Bremer disbanded the Iraqi Army, Baghdad was transformed into a weapons bazaar, with kiosks offering bargains on pistols, carbines, rifles, shotguns, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

The American military has added to the arsenal also, by shipping in hundreds of thousands of firearms and millions of rounds of ammunition, in an effort to equip the fledging Iraqi security forces so American troops will be able to leave.

Iraq is proof that a population loaded with guns does not make one safer. Not that guns should be outlawed or anything, but there is a difference between perception and reality.

"Maybe I'm kidding myself," said Haidar Hussein, the bookseller who is teaching his wife to shoot. "But having a gun makes me feel safer."

Not everyone in Baghdad feels safer carrying a firearm. Some are repulsed by guns, others frightened. Many say that with death squads and suicide bombers running around, what good is one pistol or rifle?

Sectarian revenge has become the new common form of violence. Baghdad's homicide rate since the Samarra attack has tripled, to 33 killings per day.

Few killings have been investigated, eroding what little faith there was in law enforcement. The suspicion is growing that officers in the Shiite-controlled police forces are linked to the death squads.

I rearranged a NY Times article, but the info is the same.

 

[Stylesjl]

Well the country is in civil war so i think in this case guns are probaly a nessesary evil

 

[The Last Conformist]

Considering that Iraq was awash in guns already before the invasion, the justification of the thread title seems tenuous.

 

[kingjoshi]

Considering that Iraq already had so man guns, one would assume that prices wouldn't double as they have. We woudln't assume an influx of weapons from Syria and the US to such proportions.

 

[Jawz II]

damn baghdad sounds more and more like a fun place to be, you have the philipino prostitutes, and the american liqour flown in, drugs from iran and weapons.

all they need is some serious rock n roll and its a party.

 

[HawkeyeGS]

Gee weapons for a civil war what a novel concept.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

People without guns find it much harder to kill other people, hence why lots of guns on the market, and a looming civil war, is a bad mix.

Do people need to kill other people in self-defence? Or does it spiral out of control in a lawless country, when the sympathisers of a killed one kill the killer that killed them, and so then the original killer kills the killer of one of their own who was killed, and BAM! All-out war from mere 'self-defence'?

From totalitarianism to near anarchy. I can't help but wonder why on Earth I supported this war when it started.

 

[Oerdin]

BTW the main source of weapons in Iraq was the former government. Saddam literally opened up arsonals before the invasion and gave away weapons to every Iraqi who wanted one with the intention of creating an armed rebel force to harrass the invaders. It seems to have worked and now it will not be easy to get those weapons off the streets just like Afghanistan is a wash in weapons 27 years after the Soviets left.

 

[Arcades057]

You can still pick up AKs cheap in Africa too. Around $50, if I recall...

 

[Blazer6]

Iraqi society is very different from American society. While I can safely walk around with a pistol, an Iraqi packing firearms near soldiers is a bad idea.

 

[Inqvisitor]

How could any sane Iraqi man walk the streets of Baghdad without any arms to defend himself and his family with? If Bush's armies had the power to do it, you can bet they would be seizing all these weapons and letting them fend for themselves in the civil war they brought about.