Lingering Effects of Baghdad Blasts on Iraqis

An Iraqi weeps as he walks away from the ministries of justice and labour following a suicide...

An Iraqi weeps as he walks away from the ministries of justice and labour following a suicide bombing on October 25, 2009. Twin suicide car bombs blasted the justice ministry and the provincial Affices in central Baghdad killing at least 90 people and injuring 600 others.

(AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Sadiya Khadem Rashid just needed a stamp. One stamp from Baghdad's city hall so she could receive $850 in compensation given to displaced Iraqis who return home. But before she could get there, the building was blown up.

Recent bombings that hit government buildings in downtown Baghdad killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more. The blasts also had a wider effect: slowing down the government services Iraqis use on a daily basis.

The bureaucratic snarl adds to the blow that the attacks inflicted on public confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ahead of national elections in January. Infuriated Iraqis have wondered how the blasts could happen in what was supposed to be one of Baghdad's safest neighborhoods.

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While other bombings have targeted locations such as mosques or restaurants, these explosions targeted the heart of the government: the Foreign and Finance Ministries in August, and the Justice Ministry, the Baghdad Provincial Administration and the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works in October.

Weeks after the Oct. 25 blasts, the Baghdad administration building, akin to a city hall, is still almost uninhabitable. Some employees work out of rooms in the far back of the building away from the street, which was the least affected by the blast, but closer to the street, there are no phones, no floors and no walls.

A mound of mangled concrete and broken glass is piled up in the intersection between the Justice and Municipalities Ministries. A long Iraqi flag hangs down the face of the Justice Ministry, partially covering the blown out walls and windows.

At the Foreign Ministry, employees have begun to move back into some offices even as construction crews noisily work to rebuild the walls, windows, ventilation and elevators damaged in the blast. Out in the parking lot, dust-covered desks and coffee tables and ripped office chairs from the gutted building are piled up.