Posted on 09/03/2008 4:26:57 AM PDT by naturalman1975
BAGHDAD in 2008 is a city tantalisingly close to a genuine transformation.
The first impression after an absence of two years is the stunning reduction in the appalling level of violence that had torn the city's suburbs apart over the past four years.
A relative calm has now descended. On the day I arrived, there was not a single serious security incident across the whole of Baghdad.
As Ramadan begins, it seems Iraqis are increasingly weary with war and yearn for a more normal life. Last week, 60,000 people crowded into a city stadium for a major football match.
Rocket attacks on the giant US base at Camp Victory, next to the airport, are far less frequent than two years ago.
The run into town from Baghdad's international airport on Route Irish - once famously dubbed "the most dangerous road in the world" - is fast becoming a routine trip.
The threat from improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs, remains but thanks to sophisticated counter-measures, better roads and a far more capable Iraqi army, the number of lethal attacks has been hugely reduced.
New overpasses now jump across Route Irish and tens of millions are being spent upgrading the airport highway.
If the passengers on my US mine-resistant, ambush-protected armoured transport into the heart of Baghdad yesterday were apprehensive, they didn't show it. The armoured truck is hardly an ordinary taxi but one of my companions busied herself on her BlackBerry while another snoozed all the way.
Construction is booming inside Baghdad's international zone, dominated by the enormous new US embassy stretching more than a kilometre along the banks of the Tigris.
For once, the ubiquitous T-walls - the concrete barriers that separate the international zone from the rest of the city - are not the centre of attention.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
Pelosi and Reid deeply saddened; Obama demands reparations for families of Al-queda members cilled by evil American forces.
The media in this country is a joke. You don’t hear Iraq in the news anymore, because there is no bad news. If a Dummycrat started this war, we would be hearing nothing but good things right now.
I know you always thank the military Allegra but once again I’d like to thank you for your efforts to bring normallcy to a people that obviously want it.
The transformation is amazing. This has been the most difficult, challenging, exciting and rewarding event I have been a part of in my life.
I remember how violent it was in my previous years here. So hellish and turbulent that it became the norm.
I came back to see the peace coming in and it is beautiful.
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.