A Year On, 'Everyone is Torn'; NEWSWEEK's Melinda Liu, who braved the bombing of Baghdad, returns to see what her Iraqi friends say now.

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 29-MAR-04

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Byline: Melinda Liu

One of my last visits with Amal Murad Ali, almost exactly a year ago, was cut short by an explosion. She and I were huddled in the dank basement of her antiques shop, across from Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, waiting for the fighting to stop, when a huge blast shook the building. She stayed behind; I ran out to get the story. An American tank shell had hit the hotel, killing two Western journalists. The next day, joyous Iraqis tore down Saddam Hussein's statue a few blocks away. My friend, a Shiite, wasn't there, but I told her all about it soon afterward. She ate up every word.

We didn't meet again until last week. I was back in Baghdad for the anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I tracked Ali down. She's doing well, renting her old house to Western journalists for a hefty $5,500 a month. But she worries about the city's unsafe streets, especially the threat of terrorist attacks. Not that she regrets being free. "Of course things are better than they were under Saddam," she said, and she began reminiscing about the glorious sound of U.S. tanks rolling down her street last spring.

A deafening blast...

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