In Baghdad, residents despair of endless violence

BAGHDAD — The city of Baghdad was once the Rome of the Islamic world, possessing a beauty that did not deteriorate with age. Now, policymakers are once again observing the city — which has not abandoned its reputation as one of the most dangerous in the world — in an attempt to foresee the future of the Middle East.

At the famous Baghdad airport, memories take one back to the spring of 2003. Here, the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein began. Today at the airport, rumors are spread daily by activists opposed to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government. They say Maliki's government has fallen in a bid to convince the public that Maliki is vulnerable and about to be ousted.

Nothing signifies to the visitor that the US Army was once here. At the first checkpoint, several Iraqi soldiers, some not in uniform, stop and search passing cars as part of security measures to prevent bomb attacks. The checkpoint displays a banner reading, "Ya Hussein," or "Oh Hussein."

Hussein is the third imam of the Shiite Muslims, the sect to which Maliki belongs. It's a sign, too, that might hint to Shiite passersby that this country has been given an identity that might not be acceptable to all its people. As a Shiite Muslim myself, I felt this wasn't the right first impression for a nation to give, especially one that is in the midst of bloody sectarian strife in which thousands of innocents have been killed for their beliefs.

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