Thread: Thousands return to safer I R A Q I capital

BAGHDAD - In a dramatic turnaround, more than 3,000 Iraqi families driven out of their Baghdad neighborhoods have returned to their homes in the past three months as sectarian violence has dropped, the government said Saturday. Saad al-Azawi, his wife and four children are among them. They fled to Syria six months ago, leaving behind what had become one of the capital's more dangerous districts — west Baghdad's largely Sunni Khadra region.
The family had been living inside a vicious and bloody turf battle between al-Qaida in Iraq and Mahdi Army militiamen. But Azawi said things began changing, becoming more peaceful, in August when radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army fighters to stand down nationwide.
About the same time, the Khadra neighborhood Awakening Council rose up against brutal al-Qaida control — the imposition of its austere interpretation of Islam, along with the murder and torture of those who would not comply.
The uprising originated in Iraq's west and flowed into the capital. Earlier this year, the Sunni tribes and clans in the vast Anbar province began their own revolt and have successfully rid the largely desert region of al-Qaida control.
At one point the terrorist group virtually controlled Anbar, often with the complicity of the vast Sunni majority who welcomed the outsiders in their fight against American forces.
But, U.S. officials say, al-Qaida overplayed its hand with Iraq's Sunnis, who practice a moderate version of Islam. American forces were quick to capitalize on the upheaval, welcoming former Sunni enemies as colleagues in securing what was once the most dangerous region of the country.
And as 30,000 additional U.S. forces arrived for the crackdown in Baghdad and central Iraq, the American commander, Gen. David Petraeus, began stationing many of them in neighborhood outposts. The mission was not only to take back control but to foster neighborhood groups like the one in Khadra to shake off al-Qaida's grip.
The 40-year-old al-Azawi, who has gone back to work managing a car service, said relatives and friends persuaded him to bring his family home.
"Six months ago, I wouldn't dare be outside, not even to stand near the garden gate by the street. Killings had become routine. I stopped going to work, I was so afraid," he said, chatting with friends on a street in the neighborhood.
When he and his family joined the flood of Iraqi refugees to Syria the streets were empty by early afternoon, when all shops were tightly shuttered. Now the stores stay open until 10 p.m. and the U.S. military working with the neighborhood council is handing out $2,000 grants to shop owners who had closed their business. The money goes to those who agree to reopen or first-time businessmen.
Al-Azawi said he's trying to get one of the grants to open a poultry and egg shop that his brother would run.
"In Khadra, about 15 families have returned from Syria. I've called friends and family still there and told them it's safe to come home," he said.
Sattar Nawrous, a spokesman for the Ministry of Displacement and Migration, said the al-Azawi family was among 3,100 that have returned to their homes in Baghdad in the past 90 days.
"In the past three months, the ministry did not register any forced displacement in the whole of Iraq," said Nawrous, who is a Kurd.
The claim could not be independently verified, but, if true, it would represent a dramatic end to the sectarian cleansing that has shredded the fabric of Baghdad's once mixed society.
The head of the ministry is Abdul-Samad Rahman, a Shiite appointed to his job by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is accused of promoting the Shiite cause to the detriment of Sunnis. Under Saddam Hussein, the Sunni minority ruled and heavily oppressed many in the Shiite majority.

Part of the inflow can be attributed to stiffening of visa and residency procedures for Iraqis by the Syrian government.
Mahmoud al-Zubaidi, who runs the Iraqi Airways office in Damascus, the Syrian capital, the flow of Iraqis has almost reversed.
What were once full flights arriving from Baghdad now touch down virtually empty, he told Al-Sabah, the government funded Iraqi daily newspaper. Now the flights are leaving Damascus with more passengers but the volume of travel is off considerably.
On average, 56 Iraqis — civilians and security forces — have died each day so far in this very bloody year. Last month, however, the toll fell to just under 30 Iraqis killed daily in sectarian violence.
More than four months after U.S. forces completed a 30,000-strong force buildup, the death toll for both Iraqis and Americans has fallen dramatically for two months running. Across Iraq Saturday, 18 people were killed or found dead in sectarian violence, well below the year's daily average.
Thousands return to safer Iraqi capital - Yahoo! News

Good news out of Iraq for the Iraqi citizens and U.S.forces.

This must be a lie. How can this be? I thought we were making things worse over there...so I heard.:whistling:

3000 out of how many again? Oh yeah the rpoverbial drop in the bucket....a bucket that will see depletion from some other well as the violence just moves to an easier area....sucks but its true.

Originally Posted by liberalman

3000 out of how many again? Oh yeah the rpoverbial drop in the bucket....a bucket that will see depletion from some other well as the violence just moves to an easier area....sucks but its true.

More than 3,000 = better than 0.

"Don't worry, be happy"

Originally Posted by Coolio43

More than 3,000 = better than 0.

"Don't worry, be happy"

They can't be happy as long as things are going well over there. After all, like one Democrat said, "it won't look good for us."

Humanism--which is to say the unprejudiced and unconditional desire to promote the welfare of humanity -- runs so much deeper than petty politics. Acting under the assumption that basic morality is universal, 'unnecessary' suffering is always a bad thing, and less suffering is always a good thing. Barring some leap forward in human cognition, we as a species will always be forced to negotiate our ability to comprehend such ideas, and the animal impulses which on the one hand ensure our own survival and proliferation but on the other are driving our own primitive self-destruction which increases more or less in proportion to our technology.

Modern and contemporary mass news media tends to be an unreliable source from which to draw conclusions because those commanding it exploit the public's inability to accurately interpret and contextualize the information being presented, for profit. Based on some posts I've read on this website it seems plain that many if not most people--through little to no fault of their own--can't even understand whether or not an affective/emotional news story is significant statistically, or in the bigger picture. (Of course the preceding sentence would be massively hypocritical if the irony was not intentional.)
One can only hope for the sake of the Iraqi people first that this news story is indicative of a larger trend towards "national reconciliation" and a commensurate lessening of violence, pain, suffering, and death among people who simply want to live their lives.

Originally Posted by Invayne

They can't be happy as long as things are going well over there. After all, like one Democrat said, "it won't look good for us."

Not so. If this is a beginning it is really good. I was reading today about the markedly decreased deaths reported in Iraq. No one over there is sure how to intrepret it yet. One of the Sunni leaders commented however that it may be the "surge" is limited in its time and once we start pulling out of areas the violence may return. Also remember al Sadr's militia has not been participating in any violence, al Sadr has not gone away. Its premature to be breaking out the cake and Haagan Daz.

Originally Posted by liberalman

3000 out of how many again? Oh yeah the rpoverbial drop in the bucket....a bucket that will see depletion from some other well as the violence just moves to an easier area....sucks but its true.

Syrian officials say 700,000 Iraqis from various ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds have arrived since the U.S.-led invasion, far more than in any other country in the region.

Iraqi Refugees Overwhelm Syria (washingtonpost.com)

Still, an estimated 700,000 Iraqis have fled to Jordan. They don't live in refugee camps, however. Most are in Amman, residing among Jordanians. They include Sunnis, Shiites, and Christians. Some are wealthy. Many belonged to Iraq's middle class. Others are poor, like these women who sell cigarettes in downtown Amman.

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . COVER . IRAQI REFUGEES . May 25, 2007 | PBS

Last month, the UN estimated that 100,000 people were fleeing the country each month, with the number of Iraqis now living in other Arab countries standing at 1.8 million.

Warning over spiralling Iraq refugee crisis | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited

The number of Iraqis taking refuge in other countries continues to climb, with 1.4 million in Syria, 750,000 in Jordan, 80,000 in Egypt and 200,000 in the Gulf region.

UN warns of five million Iraqi refugees - Independent Online Edition > Middle East

But yay for the 3000.
???

On average, 56 Iraqis — civilians and security forces — have died each day so far in this very bloody year. Last month, however, the toll fell to just under 30 Iraqis killed daily in sectarian violence.

Mission Accomplished.

If only it were that easy...this mission will not be accomplished until we are stuck there for decades ala korea. I say move the troops out now...call it a wash.