Back in Iraq, Jarred by the Calm

From the New York Times.

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.

Prosperity and commerce are coming to Iraq as Mr. Filkins points out. Iraq is not without issue, nor is that the purpose of Mr. Filkins' article. However, at this time there is peace, prosperity, and hope. While he writes that Iraqis do not know what the future will bring, Iraqis are none the less hopeful of a brighter, better future.

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