Word: baghdad
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When the U.S. invaded Iraq four years ago, Yasser Obaid Hussein's life was full of peril - but his mind was filled with hope. Night after night, his modest Baghdad apartment was shaken by the U.S. "shock and awe" bombing campaign. His pregnant wife Sheherezad was worried that a cruise missile might crash through the window. To calm her and their three children, Yasser tried to stay positive. "If we survive the bombs," he recalls saying, "we will have a wonderful new life...
...reasons to celebrate. A few days after the regime's fall, Sheherezad gave birth to twin girls: Tabarek and Aya. There were complications. The babies were premature, and Tabarek was weak. Much of the pediatric hospital's life-support equipment was lost to the looting mobs that rampaged through Baghdad after the collapse of the old regime, so doctors had to rely on one old, malfunctioning incubator. Tabarek later developed learning difficulties that, her doctors believe, resulted in part from poor postnatal attention...
...trouble. But a few months later, the same faction kidnapped and tortured one of his friends, and through him sent Yasser a terrifying message: We know where you live, and we're coming for your family. By this time, Shi'ite death squads were operating with impunity in Baghdad, kidnapping and killing scores every day. Tens of thousands of people were fleeing the country, heading mainly for Jordan and Syria. Yasser concluded his family had to join the exodus...
...Bush Administration has been heartened by the last month in Iraq. Khalilzad leaves as U.S. and Iraqi forces have converged to provide security in Baghdad and, he said, the Iraqi forces seem to be keeping up. Violence in the capital, he said, has "fallen nearly a quarter" since Operation Law and Order began six weeks ago. Iraqis are starting to trust their own security forces, he said, citing a steady amount of useful tips coming in during recent weeks. Also, there are indications, he said, that the tribes and some insurgents are turning on al-Qaeda in Anbar province...
...Fresh from the critical post of Ambassador to Pakistan, Crocker is expected to start later this week. No stranger to the Middle East, Crocker has served as ambassador to Lebanon, Kuwait and Syria during his 36 years in the foreign service. He met his wife Christine working in the Baghdad embassy...