Open parks symbolize gains in Iraq
BAGHDAD — Muntadhar al-Sharify stood shivering Saturday in Baghdad’s searing heat, a smile on his young face.
The Iraqi boy had just completed a rite of passage known to children around the world — his first swim. But his fun also marked something broader: Another small step in Baghdad’s halting progress from violence to more normal life.
Across the city this summer, a handful of parks and pools are opening to the public. And places like Zawra Park, where three swimming pools opened Saturday after repairs financed by the U. S. military, are drawing crowds of Iraqi families.
“In the last eight or nine months, life has been normal in Zawra,” said Salah al-Mandalawy, the assistant general manager of the park in western Baghdad.
For years, the sectarian violence after the U. S.-led invasion in 2003 kept Iraqis cooped up inside their houses for fear any trip out the door could be their last.
The U. S. military hopes the recent ebb in violence will allow Iraqis to begin restoring their lives to normal. It’s encouraging the process with projects like the refurbishment of the pools at Zawra, one of the city’s main parks.
Iraqi families now often spend the entire day in the park, al-Mandalawy said. With temperatures regularly over 100 degrees, the parks provide a much needed respite. On Saturday, birds chirped amid the overhanging trees. Patches of green grass, a little parched, lay underneath.
The tranquility contrasts sharply with the period after the U. S.-led invasion when the park was hit by mortar fire, al-Mandalawy said. Some of the animals in the park’s zoo were stolen.
Now, violence in Iraq has dropped to its lowest level in more than four years. The reasons: The 2007 buildup of U. S. forces, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and government crackdowns against Sunni extremists and Shiite militias, among other factors.
Iraq’s prime minister said Saturday that the government has defeated terrorism in the country, a sign of growing confidence after recent crackdowns against Sunni extremists and Shiite militias.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched the crackdowns to extend the authority of the government over areas in Baghdad and elsewhere that have largely been under the control of armed groups since the U. S.-led invasion in 2003.
“They were intending to besiege Baghdad and control it,” al-Maliki said. “But thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them.”
He was speaking at ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of the 2003 assassination of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, a leading opponent of Saddam Hussein who was killed in a truck bombing in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf after returning from exile in Iran.
The prime minister plans to visit the United Arab Emirates today and also Italy and Germany later in the month — apparently hoping improved security at home will produce greater international support.
Despite recent gains, attacks continue. Gunmen attacked a police patrol Saturday near Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, killing one policeman, police said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Also Saturday, one policeman was killed and a passer-by was injured near Nasiriyah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, when a bomb attached to the policeman’s car exploded, police said.
On Friday, one Iraqi citizen was killed and seven wounded by an explosion in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Yarmouk, said the U. S. military.
Meanwhile, President Bush said American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were continuing the “proud tradition of defending liberty” that began with the fight for American independence.
“In places like Afghanistan and Iraq, many risk their lives every day and uphold the principle that human freedom is the birthright of all people,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “These brave Americans make it possible for America to endure as a free society.”
In his radio address, Bush said the United States’ “creed of freedom has required brave defenders, and every generation of Americans has produced them.”
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
