According to recent news reports. even cab drivers are feeling it is safer to drive around Baghdad neighborhoods where sectarian violence once made it impossible for them to enter. But perhaps the most telling story of increased security in Baghdad is one told by the Iraqi people themselves. According to an Associated Press article from this past weekend. thousands of Iraqi refugees who previously fled their homes in Iraq for the relative safety of neighboring Syria have now returned to their home country. While it is easy for some skeptics to secondguess numbers and statistics pertaining to the security situation in Iraq. it is nearly impossible to ignore the fact that thousands of Iraqis who not long ago were living as refugees in a foreign country now feel safe enough to come home. This reversal of refugee trends clearly indicates that there are good things happening in Iraq and around Baghdad. The AP reports that "In a dramatic turnaround. more than 3.000 Iraqi families driven out of their Baghdad neighborhoods have returned to their homes in the past three months as sectarian violence has dropped." The article goes on to quote one refugee who returned home to his neighborhood of Khadra. "In Khadra." he said. "about 15 families have returned from Syria." He said. "Ive called friends and family still there and told them its safe to come home." Where there was once widespread fear among Iraqi citizens. we are now seeing something newhope. hope for a better and safer future. Nothing confirms this more than the return of refugees and their testimony that it is becoming safer in Iraq. While not yet safe. no one is saying the job has been completed. but surely an honest. objective appraisal would acknowledge the improvements in the security situation as demonstrated not only by these statistics but by testimonials from Iraqis themselves. These heartwarming accounts of families reuniting in neighborhoods. which not long ago had been written off as hopeless. and businesses opening their doors are important lessons for us all.
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