Midlanders see progress, many problems in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

Midlanders see progress, many problems in Iraq
BY JAKE THOMPSON AND TIM ELFRINK
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Published Sunday | September 9, 2007


WASHINGTON — In January 2004, Susan Phalen thought nothing of driving a car outside the protected Green Zone for dinner in a Baghdad neighborhood.

"That was really a neat time to be there. You actually got a flavor of the country," the University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate recalled.

Phalen, who now works at the U.S. State Department, finished her ninth tour in Iraq this spring.

By then, she'd logged hundreds of trips around Iraq aboard the safest means of transport available — helicopters.

Baghdad has become a "scary place," she said. The heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings, endures rocket or mortar attacks almost daily.

~snip~

I constantly have hope for Iraq," Phalen said. "I constantly feel sorry for what I see."


Rest of article at: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1100&u_sid=10127406