Posted on 09/22/2008 1:10:28 AM PDT by Tennessean4Bush
BAGHDAD — At first, I didn’t recognize the place.
On Karada Mariam, a street that runs over the Tigris River toward the Green Zone, the Serwan and the Zamboor, two kebab places blown up by suicide bombers in 2006, were crammed with customers. Farther up the street was Pizza Napoli, the Italian place shut down in 2006; it, too, was open for business. And I’d forgotten altogether about Abu Nashwan’s Wine Shop, boarded up when the black-suited militiamen of the Mahdi Army had threatened to kill its owners. There it was, flung open to the world.
Two years ago, when I last stayed in Baghdad, Karada Mariam was like the whole of the city: shuttered, shattered, broken and dead.
Abu Nawas Park — I didn’t recognize that, either. By the time I had left the country in August 2006, the two-mile stretch of riverside park was a grim, spooky, deserted place, a symbol for the dying city that Baghdad had become.
These days, the same park is filled with people: families with children, women in jeans, women walking alone. Even the nighttime, when Iraqis used to cower inside their homes, no longer scares them. I can hear their laughter wafting from the park. At sundown the other day, I had to weave my way through perhaps 2,000 people. It was an astonishing, beautiful scene — impossible, incomprehensible, only months ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping for later
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a soldier.
no thanks to the democrats
no thanks to Ron Paul or Chuck Hagel
Baghdag -— Ping
And if you are blessed enough to be able to witness with your own eyes what this reporter is relating, thank a soldier as well.
I've been putting it on here for a few months now. The transformation is amazing. It is awe-inspiring. This is a normal big city now with busy streets, crowded markets, parks and restaurants. The look of fear and weariness so prevalent on the Iraqis' faces a couple of years ago has been replaced with expressions of cheerfulness and renewed vigor.
And I believe it's just going to keep getting better.
Dexter Filkins, he’s promoting the “war is nearly done” story.
I tend to agree with him, even if he is selling a book.
Iraq ping.
Wow, Obama did all that with one brief visit? Amazing!
I hope you didn’t pay for the paper.
Wonderful to read; I pray for the Iraqi’s because of what they’ve lived through and hope for their future. Of course NYT has to be stupified instead of logically grateful to our awesome troops! 2ndDivision, thanks for the reminder to be thankful for my teachers; it’s definitely much more on my mind to be grateful to our troops on a daily basis but reading gives me freedom to not rely on the drive-by media for info, that’s for sure.
jveritas called this early.
"You're either with us or you are with the terrorists."
So did I. On several occassions, starting four years ago. I was flamed by a lot of FReepers for it, and not one of them has been big enough to admit he or she was wrong.
It just kind of goes to show the character of people who are quick to flame.
So did I. On several occassions, starting four years ago. I was flamed by a lot of FReepers for it, and not one of them has been big enough to admit he or she was wrong.jveritas called this early.
It just kind of goes to show the character of people who are quick to flame.
With all due respect, I called it right after the invasion - but that was before 2006, when it began to look to serious commentators like things were unravelling. jveritas called the success of the surge early.
With all due respect, you probably never saw my frequent posts on the unreported progress as it was being made here and my assessments of same.
It's OK, though. I have plenty of validation around FR.
Thanks for all you've done and reported here!
Yes you do!
.
Since you are on the ground there, I usually look for your posts on the subject.
Honest observers are a treasure for those who value accurate information.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.