USA TODAY: … Six months after the last U.S. combat troops left, an Iraq free of Saddam Hussein and overseen by a democratically elected government midwifed by the United States is standing on its own despite ever-present dangers from within and outside its borders.
Hundreds of Iraqis have been killed in terror attacks since the last U.S. troops withdrew in December. Iran continues to retain ties to Shiite militias operating in Iraq. Political differences between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds have frequently boiled over into threats of civil war. The government struggles to provide basic services, such as electricity.
Yet most Iraqis seem to feel that politics and feuds should not be permitted to impede what really matters: continued progress in their day-to-day lives reflected by an improving economy, booming oil revenue and a representative government… (more)
