Young Iraqis cast doubtful eyes toward their future

[Kadie]

Young Iraqis cast doubtful eyes toward their future
Colin Freeman, Chronicle Foreign Service

Saturday, March 19, 2005


Baghdad -- Amid the jumble of makeup and hairbrushes she stashes in her handbag, Ruaa Jamal packs one distinctly unladylike item. Whenever she travels to work alone, a 4-inch switchblade is ready at the flick of a button to ward off the robbers and rapists who now plague Baghdad's women.

The rise of women secretly armed is just one of many signs that, exactly two years after the opening salvos of the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, personal safety remains the overriding concern for most Iraqis.

Whether the random violence from insurgents and criminals is better than the targeted violence of Hussein's regime is a matter of personal opinion. What few Iraqis doubt, though, is that compared to the same time 12 months ago, things seem notably worse.

In March 2004, life here seemed to be slowly turning the corner. Iraqi security forces were showing signs of improvement, while the insurgency seemed to have lost its way. Foreign investors were coming in, businesses were beginning to thrive once more, and the mobile phone network -- the first real sign of reconnection with the outside world -- had just gotten up and running.

Now, those same indicators all point in the opposite direction.

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