If someone told me that they went to Dora and they don't live there, I would say that this person is crazy. This craziness happened today I was the crazy one. I went to Dora.

Dora neighborhood is one of the strong-holds for al Qaida in Baghdad . Many people have been killed and displaced from the southwest Baghdad neighborhood from 2003 to present. Those people who were killed were residents of Dora itself, passer bys, taxi drivers, porters, shop owners, policemen, soldiers and officials. Most of the victims were Shiite because al Qaida, an extremist Sunni group, considers them not Muslims. But they killed Sunnis as well. Sunnis who joined the police, army or took governmental jobs were killed because they were considered traitors. Today I was on my way to my office in central Baghdad, but the bridge that leads to the neighborhood was full of traffic slowed by three checkpoints on the road. The driver of the mini bus that I had caught to work decided to take a detour.

All of the 11 passengers, including me, asked the driver what route he would take. I was surprised to hear we would pass through Dora neighborhood to reach Jadriyah, in central Baghdad.

I was frightened when I heard the name Dora and I was about to ask why, but then a woman older than 60 said what I was thinking.

“Do you want to kill us, son?" she said.

“Is it safe to go there?" another passenger asked.

The driver assured us that if it wasn't safe he would never go through Dora. He was a Shiite. 

A young man next to the old woman started to joke with her. 

"The Mujahadeen are not here, but under the next bridge," he said referring to Sunni insurgents. "Hide your IDs."

He laughed but she was afraid.

"Can't you go back. The route we were on was so good," she said.

Another passenger who was sitting in front of the old lady turned around to comfort her.

“You are too old and they won't ask for you," he said. "In fact we should be frightened they will look for the young, not you."

The passengers broke into a lively discussion. Some said that the insurgents don't distinguish between a child, a young man or a woman. As we passed through Dora we saw Iraqi policemen and soldiers at checkpoints throughout the area and we felt some relief.

The young man started to tease the lady again. He told her that the area is famous for kidnapping women and forcing them to blow themselves up. Meanwhile, we saw graffiti on the walls.

“There is no place for betrayers in the Islamic State of Iraq," someone had spray painted on one wall. The saying refers to the Islamic state, a front for a Qaida in Iraq.

I really wanted to take part in the conversation but I was more worried about being late for work than being killed. So I sat silent and listened.

Finally I got to the office in one piece, thank God. Later, I heard that one of my Sunni colleagues had done something just as crazy. He'd driven through a Mahdi Army controlled neighborhood where he hadn't been in over a year. The neighborhood is where I live. I told him thank God for your safety and he said the same to me.

For several months Baghdadi residents had got relief from car bombs which cause death and chaos in our capital. That thing didn't last as we had six car bombs within the last seven days in Baghdad alone. Thus, the security plan which started about twenty months ago had failed to end the roadside bombs, mortars, assassinations and at least car bombs.

Yesterday we had two car bombs, one in Karrada neighborhood and the other one in Jamiaa neighborhood. As a result we witnessed today terrible traffic jams in Baghdad check points. For me I was stuck in a terrible long queue of cars on Jadiriya bridge, one of the important bridges in Baghdad that links its west bank with the east one, due to the three check points on it. There were five lanes of cars on that bridge while the Iraqi police check point allow one lane to pass without checking the cars nor carrying any device to tell that they are searching to prevent car bombs to detonate in Karrada neighborhood or any other place in Baghdad. All the people were furious as they wasted their time waiting at the check point of no use. For me, I spent one hour waiting in the taxi to have the car move 500 meters. Time wasn't with me. I phoned my local manager to tell him that I would be a liitle bit late for the morning meeting. He surprised me that he is on the bridge, too. Also two of our bureau drivers were on the bridge. I decided to leave the taxi and walked to the office. Eventually, I arrived ten minutes late, but I was the first even before the manager and the two drivers who were riding their own cars.

People keep asking of the real benefits of having so many check points all over Baghdad with the violence starts again to show up these days after a period of freezing which didn't last long. Is this a kind of pressure message to the government? Or is something bigger than that? Is it related to the military operations in Diyala and Mosul?

The Iraqi people and especially Baghdad is fed up with promises by officials and security commanders of the improving of the security situation. Millions of students in schools and universities started their new studying year this week which will add more traffic in Baghdad and more targets for the car bombs.

If the check points lessen the car bombs, we are happy with them. Instead, we have soldiers and policemen who wave for the cars to move like traffic policemen who are useless.

  Two days ago there was a session for the parliament to assess what they had achieved and done for the Iraqi people whom they represent. Even this point they didn't reach a point on it.

Some parliament members blamed the goevrnment and corruption on the slow work they had done. While some others blame most of the parliament members themselves as they are not effiecent to represent the people as they are far from people and some of them don't leave the international zone where they live in, but for the airport to leave the country.

Eventually, they postponed that discussion for the next week, to have an accordance for the problems by blocs and entities as individual members were not able to discuss the matter.

I just want to ask if parliament members are not able to assess their work during the last two years and a half what about the demands of the people who are waiting for them?