Iraq: What We Leave As We Withdraw

Not long after the statue of Saddam fell in Firdos Square, several CODEPINK women and I returned to Iraq.  We'd first visited in February during the time Bush proclaimed, "The game is over" and announced his plans for "shock and awe."  We'd learned then how much Iraqis loved Americans and did not want our disrupting their country; they asked us to let them deal with Saddam because the change had to come from within or it could be a disaster. We fell in love with Iraq and felt totally safe there, taking cabs in the wee hours of the morning, walking at 2 a.m.