Hope springs eternal because Iraqis need restaurants and beauty salons too...
HAKKARI, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's mountainous border with Iraq was witness in 1991 to the desperate flight of some 400,000 Kurds seeking refuge from Saddam Hussein's troops.
Fourteen years on, fear has given way to hope and workers, goods and investment are flowing into northern Iraq, a region developing rapidly in the wake of Saddam's overthrow.
The unemployed of Turkey's southeast are crossing the border in growing numbers to work on building sites or sell goods, frustrated by the lack of opportunities in a region a world away from the European Union that Turkey hopes to join.
"People have gone to work in northern Iraq because there are better opportunities and a lot of work. There are construction workers, engineers and businessmen," said Adnan Elci, head of a local chamber of commerce on the Iraqi border. |
And while the big news has been allies withdrawing troops (come one they're saying withdrawal starting in 6 months. We could start bringing some troops home in 6 months), Japan pledges to have their troops stay through 2006.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's defense chief set off for Iraq on Friday, Kyodo news agency said, amid expectations Tokyo would soon announce a decision to keep its troops there beyond the end of their current mandate on December 14.
Fukushiro Nukaga will meet the 550 Japanese troops who are on a humanitarian and reconstruction mission to Samawa in southern Iraq.
The government is expected to extend their mission by a year, aiming to withdraw the troops by the end of 2006, recent newspaper reports have said.
[...]The troops' activities in Iraq are strictly limited by Japan's pacifist constitution and recent tasks have included repairing a school and providing medical training and back-up at hospitals in Samawa, a spokeswoman for the Defense Agency said. |
Gotta love that... they're pacifists who insist on staying to help the Iraqis build their country. God bless 'em. And don't forget our troops do humanitarian missions as well, delivering food and water in this case.
And there has been a revival in the arts that shows the true diversity of the Iraqi people.
By Iraqi standards, the school is modern. It was refurbished in April 2004 by U.S. troops after rioters burned it. Musical instruments and other equipment have been donated by the United Nations and charities.
It's also one of the more secular and diverse schools in Baghdad. The students include Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Christians. Student drawings of Jesus Christ, Quranic verses and Santa Claus hang side-by-side in one dance studio.
"Here we are all Iraqis," says Najiha Nayif Hummadi, a physician-turned-educator who has been headmaster of the school for 16 years. |
And overall the number of suicide bombings in Iraq fell during the month of November to a seven month low. As elections near that may change, but it appears to be a direct result of US offensives near the Syrian border and in the Anbar province. But Iraqi officials are beefing security to the extent of preventing non-Iraqi Arabs from entering the country and securing the borders in anticipation of the upcoming elections.
And the Iraqi military continues to improve:
An all Iraqi aircrew flew its first solo mission aboard a C-130E from Ali Air Base, near Nasariyah in southeast Iraq, to New Al Muthana here Nov. 28, officials reported today.
The nine aircrew members are part the 23rd Iraqi Squadron, which has been receiving training at Ali Air Base. "The flight marked a major milestone achievement by showing Iraq's capability of providing its own military transport," said Air Force Capt. Jerry Ruiz, forward operations executive officer at New Al Muthana Air Base. |
There's more to the war on terror than the standard how many died today news reports. It's a shame that you've got to dig so much just for a few good news stories. |
