By Cathy Breen
Voices in the Wilderness
Baghdad

Three day ago four of us from Voices in the Wilderness were met in Amman, Jordan and driven into Baghdad by our dear friend Sattar. After crossing the impressive expansive desert and not too far from the city of Baghdad, we left the main highway to go through Ramadi, as this particular stretch of highway is known for robberies and Sattar wanted to avoid it. It was midday and the sun was hot. We saw people laying bricks, unarmed traffic police in white shirts and blue pants directing traffic, a garbage truck, and small fields here and there newly plowed. People were out and about and small shops and market stalls were opened. I felt heartened at these signs that life is returning to normal. I found out later that many military officers live in this area and they had agreed before the conflict not to fight the coalition forces.