Peace in Baghdad

"“No single item in Baghdad for today,” I told my bureau chief with great joy. I was so glad to have that news as all Iraqis were, of course .The meaning of “item” is so simple--it means that no car bomb or roadside bomb targeted Iraqi people or Iraqi security forces. No mortar shell hit any neighborhood in Baghdad . No gunmen killed or injured anyone in sectarian violence or targeted security forces. No child, student, woman or anyone else was kidnapped for ransom. So no ransom money was used to target other people.

I was excited to see the Daily Violence Report (which the McClatchy Baghdad bureau and special correspondents compile every day) did not mention Baghdad . We were clear of violence on Friday during all day and night .I was so happy to see my city without violence.

People ask why. The answer is so simple, in my opinion. Iraqis found out their mistakes and restarted their normal life far away of the terrorism’s agenda. For more than five years, Iraqis were busy killing, kidnapping, displacing and stealing. Recently, they realized that those who were killed were just Iraqis--whatever sect or religion they belonged to.

Minutes before posting this blog ,I had a phone call from a police source telling me that a female child had been kidnapped in Baghdad . This suffocated the happiness I had been feeling, but it didn’t kill the hope that this poor girl will soon be released to be with her family ..Or my undying hope that all Iraqis live in peace."
Inside Iraq

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