Some "Bright Spots" in the Lives of Iraqi's!

USATODAY.com - Neither bullets nor bombs keep him from his rounds

BAGHDAD — The mail must go through in Baghdad, even if it means dodging mortar rounds and firefights between insurgents and Iraqi and U.S. forces.

Jasim Mohammed Gulam, 51, has delivered mail for 20 years in the same neighborhood: Haifa Street. He knows the shortcuts and boasts that he can get around any obstacle to deliver the mail.

Power outages or broken elevators have forced him to climb endless flights of stairs. Despite the hassles and the violence, he says he's optimistic because he hasn't been kidnapped or killed.

There are other bright spots. Postmen were poorly paid and treated under the regime of Saddam Hussein, he says. "The management was criminal," he says of the Saddam-era postal service. "We hated them, and they did not care about our sufferings and demands."

Now, he and his colleagues can take a break in an air-conditioned room. They sit in comfortable chairs at new desks and have satellite television. In Baghdad, 194 of the 218 mailmen have new, Czech-made Jawa motorcycles for their routes.

There are also lots of archived articles of this nature here: USATODAY.com - Neither snow, nor sleet ...

Cheers,
JetJockey

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Originally Posted by JetJockey

USATODAY.com - Neither bullets nor bombs keep him from his rounds

BAGHDAD — The mail must go through in Baghdad, even if it means dodging mortar rounds and firefights between insurgents and Iraqi and U.S. forces.

Jasim Mohammed Gulam, 51, has delivered mail for 20 years in the same neighborhood: Haifa Street. He knows the shortcuts and boasts that he can get around any obstacle to deliver the mail.

Power outages or broken elevators have forced him to climb endless flights of stairs. Despite the hassles and the violence, he says he's optimistic because he hasn't been kidnapped or killed.

There are other bright spots. Postmen were poorly paid and treated under the regime of Saddam Hussein, he says. "The management was criminal," he says of the Saddam-era postal service. "We hated them, and they did not care about our sufferings and demands."

Now, he and his colleagues can take a break in an air-conditioned room. They sit in comfortable chairs at new desks and have satellite television. In Baghdad, 194 of the 218 mailmen have new, Czech-made Jawa motorcycles for their routes.

There are also lots of archived articles of this nature here: USATODAY.com - Neither snow, nor sleet ...

Cheers,
JetJockey

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Good find,

Yes, there are far more who are grateful for the new government than there are who think Saddam regime was better. So much is not told that it is refreshing to see a statement from someone who is in Baghdad and who has done the same job under both governments. This is the real story, and one we rarely hear about.

Most will say they are far better off than they were before, but rarely do we read this or see it on TV. There are 48 major regions which are now under Iraqi security, and they are living in pease and slowly, prosperity for the first time in there lives. There will be problems in Baghdad for months if not years, but one by one, day by day, it is improving.

Once we see that international investors are willing to help rebuild Iraq, we will see unemployment drop, prosperity rise and with this, more peace will be seen. Hope is on the horizon, and this insiders view says more than a hundred articles of negative news, so thanks for posting it.

Good luck to all, Mike