Iraqis Expressed Ambivalence About Direction of Country (NYT)

[deadparrot]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 28 - Haydar Farman strode from a back room in the office where he had been eating grilled chicken with other engineers. Sipping from a can of Diet Pepsi, he spoke of his country in words as heated as the scorching pavement outside.

It had been exactly a year since the Americans had handed over sovereignty to the Iraqis. A year of bombs and ballots, of hopes realized and dashed.

"Sure, there are differences since the handover of sovereignty; there are negative and positive changes," said Mr. Farman, 34, a clean-shaven mechanical engineer. "The most important thing is the success in holding elections despite the difficult situation."

"As for the security situation, it is less than our expectations," he added.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/international/middleeast/28cnd-voices.html

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