A Ghost Town Comes to Life

Ninety days ago, the village of Khidr was nearly a ghost town. It's only inhabitants were monsters.

For years after Al Qaeda moved into this hamlet near Kirkuk, Iraq, the townspeople were brutalized and watched their families abused and even murdered by the cowardly extremists in their midst. Nobody felt powerful enough to stand up to the terrorists and live. So one by one, the families left everything they owned and escaped their homes, wondering if they'd ever see their possessions again.

Enter the 7th Infantry Division.

In December, a large offensive operation was mounted called "Marne Roundup," where U.S. and Iraq forces went into the countryside to hunt down the remnants of Al Qaeda that had been pushed out of Baghdad. Khidr was one of the places they set up shop. They met very little resistance.apparently the Al Qaeda operatives were unable to find any handicapped women to help them fight U.S. forces, and so they went slinking away in the middle of the night.

Within just a few weeks, the soldiers stationed in Khidr started to see people they didn't recognize walking the streets. That's when they found out that the town was coming back to life.

First Lt. Ted Blyth, a platoon leader with the 7th ID, was amazed at the transformation. "The people we've seen have been all smiles. I mean, they realize that there is still a lot of work to do in the town. A lot of buildings have been destroyed," Blyth said. "But they've been saying that they want to help rebuild. They're just happy to have their land back, I think."

A lot of Americans don't understand what it is that our soldiers are actually doing in Iraq. Here's a snapshot: The soldiers stationed around Khidr are appropriating funds to renovate the school, do trash pickup and give micro-grants to help jumpstart the local economy. Even better news is the new formation of a Concerned Local Citizen program that is helping the men of the village stand together to make sure Al Qaeda can't return.

There's lots of work to be done, but progress like this is happening all over Iraq. Spring is coming to Iraq, and the hope is that this year, peace will finally be in full bloom.