Brimming with optimism? On Thursday, March 20, 2003, the United States launched missiles at Baghdad in an effort to "disarm Iraq and to free its people," as then U.S. President George W. Bush put it. In the following years, the capital city became overrun by death squads, and car bombings were an everyday occurrence. But in the wake of the 2007 U.S. troop surge, daily life has reemerged, though the city isn't in the clear yet. Above, a vendor serves fresh orange juice at his fruit stand in Baghdad on Feb. 21. A glass costs about 70 U.S. cents. Hungry for peace: Violence in Iraq has plunged since the tide turned in 2007. In January, 138 civilians were killed by violence, Iraqi officials said, the lowest monthly total since the invasion. Although 211 were killed by violence in February, that number is still much lower than the approximately 3,200 who died in July 2006, at the height of the insurgency. Above, workers prepare pizza at an eatery in central Baghdad on Feb. 23.  On the road again: A man polishes a Mercedes at a car sales lot in Baghdad on Feb. 9. Hundreds of thousands of modern cars have filled Iraq's streets in recent years, a sign that people feel more secure. Iraqis a few years ago were reluctant to drive newer cars out of fear that they'd just be damaged or destroyed in the violence that engulfed the country. SUVs were particularly shunned, as they were a sign of deplored security contractors such as Blackwater (since renamed Xe). Now, however, people are cruising Baghdad's streets in the latest autos, including SUVs.  Turning a new page: In March 2007, a car bomb ravaged Baghdad's famed 1,000-year-old Mutanabi Street book market. By December 2008, though, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was touring the reopened market, and elderly men were back to debating politics at Shabandar Cafe, the most popular place for tea since 1917. Mutanabi Street, however, doesn't have as many bookstores as it once did; electronics and knickknack shops now also fill the area. But at least the Arabic adage still holds: Cairo writes. Beirut publishes. Baghdad reads. Above, a man checks out an address book on Mutanabi Street on Feb. 4.  Living in harmony: Iraqi students practice their ouds at the Baghdad Institute of Music on Feb. 18. After the 2003 invasion, the place was ransacked: windows broken, doors ripped from their hinges, books torn apart. But with assistance from UNESCO, the institute is finding its rhythm again. Students started coming back in 2008, following the decrease in violence. There are now about 60 students, though there were more than 120 in 2003.  On display: A man strolls past oil paintings at an art gallery in the affluent Karada district of Baghdad on March 1. At the time of the 2003 invasion, Baghdad had about 60 galleries; after Saddam Hussein was deposed, there were only three. Now, however, galleries are reopening, and they have even started a four-month season of exhibits, a tradition that began in the 1950s but ceased after the invasion. In February, Iraq's National Museum, displaying the country's treasured antiquities, reopened, and in October 2008, Baghdad's National Theater resumed evening performances.  Booting up: George W. Bush may have had shoes thrown at him in Iraq, but the president's invasion left behind one footwear trend: cowboy boots, or "boose" as the locals call them. "I wear boose because they are American," one young man told Agence France-Presse. Most cowboy boots aren't made in the United States, though; instead, they are imported from Turkey, Italy, or, cheapest of all, China. Above, a vendor cleans a cowboy boot at his shop in central Baghdad's Karada district on March 9. Fishing for a future: A vendor sells a fish at the newly opened Shuhada fish market on Feb. 18 in Baghdad. The market, located in a Sunni area, had once been the scene of sectarian fighting and violence against the U.S. military. The market was rebuilt with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Such projects are part of efforts to stabilize communities and allow economic development to take hold in places once afflicted with violence. They also create short-term jobs. Shattered peace: A worker clears broken glass at a popular restaurant damaged by a roadside bomb that exploded along a busy street in central Baghdad on Feb. 26. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 others injured in the blast during the morning rush hour. Although violence has decreased in recent times, the security situation is still shaky. Earlier this month, two suicide attacks within three days killed some 60 people in the Baghdad area.  On track? A girl smiles through the window of a train before it heads north from Baghdad to Samarra on Feb. 27. The Shiite pilgrims filling the train were in a relaxed mood during the newly revived service to Samarra. The February 2006 destruction of the golden dome of the city's famed al-Askari mosque unleashed violence that left tens of thousands dead. The bloodshed has ebbed now and Baghdad families cram parks, but optimism is tempered with uneasiness. With U.S. combat forces set to withdraw by the end of August 2010, the world hopes Iraq is on the right track. |
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