USIP's Iraq program aims to reduce interethnic and interreligious violence, speed up stabilization and democratization, and reduce the need for a U.S. presence in Iraq. As part of this program, USIP has maintained a small office in the Green Zone in Baghdad since early 2004. Rusty Barber, a former political officer in the Foreign Service, has run the office since March 2007. His regular dispatches offer a lively and sobering insider's view of the promise and peril facing U.S. efforts in that country. We'll update this section each week, making only minimal changes for security reasons.
Beautiful weather this week in Baghdad—a benign prelude to the onslaught of summer heat that lies in wait somewhere after April 15, during which temperatures can soar to as high as 140 degrees fahrenheit.
The arrival of Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker was a sober affair, owing to a week of rocket attacks that forced IZ residents to sport their vests and helmets. One of those rockets took the lives of two U.S. citizens, a soldier and a civilian. Services were held for them at a small, makeshift chapel that sits beside the embassy, sheltered in a cocoon of concrete. The chapel is the locus of some outstanding live gospel music on occasion.
For Iraqis, the toll was considerably higher, following suicide bombings in the markets of Al Shaab and Sadr City that took the lives of more than 80 people.
The rockets have stopped for the time being; the budgies have not. A new, bigger aviary is envisioned for them soon.
