Schools Open, And First Test Is Iraqi Safety

Basma Osama, 10, left, held hands with a cousin, Zahrah Wathiq, 6, on Monday in their school playground in Baghdad. (Photo: Max Becherer for The New York Times)

From The New York Times:

BAGHDAD — On the first day of school, 10-year-old Basma Osama looked uneasy standing in formation under an already stifling morning sun. She and dozens of schoolmates listened to a teacher’s pep talk — probably a necessary one, given the barren and garbage-strewn playground.

“Security has returned to Baghdad, city of peace and land of pan-Arabism,” the teacher told the students, many as young as 5, who were loaded down with bright backpacks.

Basma’s mother, Hind Majid, who had just returned with her two daughters after a year in Egypt waiting out Iraq’s uncertainties, was not yet convinced about the security part.

“I am still fearful of the situation,” she said. “I have taken a gamble with my return to Iraq.”

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My Comment: These children are Iraq's future .... I hope they will not forget the past 5 years.