Mario Vargas Llosa in Baghdad:

"People cannot live castrated and subject to abjection, terror and servility, as the Iraqis have lived in the three decades under the Ba'ath dictatorship, without reacting on feeling completely and absolutely free, which is just how the Iraqis felt on April 9, with that explosion of anarchy, profligacy and savagery that has destroyed Baghdad and left an open, bleeding wound in the soul of all of its citizens."

If you found Riverbend's blog interesting, Vargas Llosa's description of everyday life and suffering in Baghdad are also very readable. You just wonder what the hell he is doing there!