In this March 6, 2007, file photo, people sift through debris at the scene of a car bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq. A suicide car bomber turned the venerable book market into a deadly inferno Monday, killing at least 38 people. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki reopened the renovated street Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
Iraqi people stand around during a reopening of the Mutanabi Street in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. The Mutanabi Street, also known as Baghdad's Book Market, was largely destroyed in several large bombings in the past years. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)From The New York Times:
BAGHDAD — Mutanabi Street has long been the intellectual center of the Iraqi capital. But when a car bomb exploded here in March 2007 killing at 26 people the neighborhood was emptied. Blast walls blocked off the area to traffic and members of Awakening Councils, groups made up largely of former insurgents, opened checkpoints to monitor people entering the neighborhood. Resurrecting this area and breathing life back into the cafes and book stores here has long been a pet project for the Iraqi leadership.
Each step of that resurrection comes with added risks. In September 2007, a curfew was lifted allowing foot traffic to enter the book market. Would a suicide bomber walk back into the cafes? In September 2008, blast walls blocking off the street were taken down. Would a car bomb detonate outside the newly repaved walkway? With each step, more and more shoppers returned to the market. And finally, on Thursday, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Malaki officially reopened the street.
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My Comment: This is the true symbol for a future Iraq .... not a disgruntled reporter throwing his shoes at a U.S. President and Iraqi PM .... who then regrets later what he has done.