Honey, I'm Home

"To paraphrase the Jr. Senator from Illinois, this is not the Baghdad I used to know. Organized soccer matches between teams in uniforms. Children and families on playgrounds. Packed restaurants. In the spring and early summer of 2007, those were things you did not see in Baghdad's West Rashid District. In the early days of the surge, Baghdad residents referred to West Rashid as the arena. Sunni and Shia assassins added to the daily body count in a blood fued for hire that sprialed nearly out of control. The 1-28 Infantry Battalion The Black Lions had just moved into the area of operations then. Eighteen months later, the 1-22 Infantry Battalion, The Regulars are now patrolling the streets of Rashid."
Outside the Wire