To paraphrase the Jr. Senator from Illinois, "this is not the Baghdad I used to know."

Organized soccer matches between teams in uniforms.  Children and families on playgrounds.  Packed restaurants.

In the spring and early summer of 2007, those were things you did not see in Baghdad's West Rashid District.  In the early days of the surge, Baghdad residents referred to West Rashid as "the arena."  Sunni and Shia assassins added to the daily body count in a blood fued for hire that sprialed nearly out of control.

The 1-28 Infantry Battalion "The Black Lions" had just moved into the area of operations then.  Eighteen months later, the 1-22 Infantry Battalion, "The Regulars" are now patrolling the streets of Rashid.

I was here in the bloody days of the begining of the surge in 2007, when what is the reality now, was a mere potentiallity.  (My documentary Baghdad Surge was shot in West Rashid in the Spring/Summer of 2007.)

As I watched the soccer match I could not believe what I was seeing.  Rather than complain about the violence or mortars or killings, the players wanted grass--grass to play on.

That is the level of progress in 18 months.

My first night in West Rashid in 2007, I fell asleep to the sound of a raging gunfight.  Nearly every night was like that back in 2007.  Even when on the outposts, I had to wear full battle rattle when walking in certain areas that would be exposed to incoming fire.

Tonight I stood in a place I never would have stood in 2007, I stood stationary, smoking a cigarette, listening not to gunfire but to the sounds that come from any city.

It is good to be home--even if I barely recognize it.

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