Baghdad's unexploded bombs
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For many of the Iraqis, the hauling of the explosives to a collection point three miles north of the airport was a first step toward normality. "The Americans are helping us - this is a major concern for this neighborhood," says Salam Hamid, a merchant and former Iraqi Army officer who directed his neighbors to help US troops load ammunition boxes onto trucks. "The two most important things are peace and security. Definitely this is a boost."
Another signal that things were slowly getting back to normal were the street lights in the next neighborhood, which flickered on for the first time on Monday. "I felt so relieved, because this will help with security," says Mr. Hamid. "We want to go back to our safe society, and leave behind our past."
US Army engineers say their commanders met Tuesday with Iraqi municipal power officials, to begin restoring electricity. Getting schools and hospitals up and running are also a priority, they say - once classrooms are cleared of ordnance.
Iraqi civilians "are very helpful, and normally tell us of two or three other places [where munitions can be found] before we can finish the first. They are very scared that we are going to leave it, or blow it up in place," says US Army Capt. Doug Brinson.
In other security measures, American commanders issued a message to the "citizens of Baghdad" Tuesday, imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew, and calling on them to approach military positions with "extreme caution" so as not to be mistaken for "terrorist or criminal elements."
Otherwise, the message called on Baghdadis to reestablish "normal daily activity as we work together to restore public services." The note pleaded for firemen, medical staff, and police to report to US forces to restore power and other utilities.
Some Iraqis say that their "liberation" from the grip of Saddam Hussein, as the US calls it, has yet to yield any fruit. Asked about any signs of normalcy returning, student Hassanian Suhail replied: "None until now."
Like many Iraqis - who have even fewer sources of news, without electricity and television, and suffering from a shortage of radio batteries - Mr. Suhail was unaware that American officials Tuesday hosted a meeting of Iraqi exiles and community leaders from inside Iraq to work on charting a future government.
"If this meeting leads to security, we welcome it," Suhail says. "Even if they come from outside the country," he adds.
Still, most residents remain without water and electricity, and looters robbed a bank and conducted gun battles on the streets of Baghdad Tuesday, despite a lower number of incidents, and occasional patrols by Iraqi police.
"The new government promises a better future, and we expect it," says Mohamed Kadhim, a driver. "We don't want to get rid of a government, only to have it replaced by one that is worse."
