BAGHDAD — The main book market, in Baghdad’s Mutanabi Street, was a hive of angry chatter this week. Bespectacled traders, complaining about new censorship laws, shouted, ‘This is not freedom of expression, and talked of holding a demonstration like one last month, when journalists protested against new restrictions. But would the booksellers dare? They said they were already worried that plainclothes policemen had been taking their names. Perhaps they should go instead to court and fight censorship with the help of lawyers. ‘Not a chance, said one book-dealer. ‘This is the new Iraq. Legal protections, he noted, count for little. ‘Power, he added, ‘is held by the men with the guns. He had a point. The Shia-led government has overseen a ballooning of the country’s security apparatus. Human-rights violations are becoming more common. In private many Iraqis, especially educated ones, are asking if their country may go back to being a police state. Old habits from Saddam Hussein’s era are becoming familiar again. Torture is routine in government detention centres. ‘Things are bad and getting worse, even by regional standards, says Samer Muscati, who works for Human Rights Watch, a New York-based lobby. His outfit reports that, […]