Global News Journal
Beyond the World news headlines
Iraq: The calm before the storm?
As soon as my plane landed in Baghdad airport earlier this month, I was struck by how much appeared to have changed since I left in March after more than three years’ reporting in Iraq.
Flights were landing from across the Middle East — Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Dubai — bringing many Iraqis back home after the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The dark, third world airport, packed with Iraqis still fleeing violence when I left seven months earlier, was cleaner, better lit and more efficient. For the first time, guards were using X-ray machines to check incoming bags.
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I think D Ward missed the point of the article. The author stated that she could sense a difference in Baghdad between when she left in March and when she arrived seven months later. The point of her article, clearly reflected in her title, is that this difference (in security, hope) could be very short-lived – the calm before the storm. The author did mention the views of some regarding the possible cause in the improvement in the security situation, and yes, she could have mentioned the so-called ‘surge’, but that wasn’t the main focus of her article and its omission does not detract from her point. Perhaps D Ward’s comments reflect his/her own bias.