Mixed Opinions on Postwar Life in Iraq

B A G H D A D, Iraq, Nov. 5 -- It's a horrible shock, waking up to the sound of a large explosion. Your heart pounds, your mouth runs dry as you try to assess where the bomb came from.

There are too many people in and around Baghdad who experience this all too often.

But what might surprise you is that in between all the dramatic news events of bombings and killings in this city, many people are happier now in their daily lives. Ayad Abdul Kareem wears a smile that leaves you smiling, too.

This soft-spoken, slender engineer moonlights in a blacksmith shop for part of the week. It's a booming business located in the heart of the capital. You can hear the rhythmic pounding of hammers to metal and sparks fly as men solder metal strips for people's gates and windows.

Kareem works the rest of the time at a power substation, monitoring and coaxing 40-year-old equipment to send power out to various Baghdad neighborhoods.

As we stood on the street corner, we asked him if life was better since the war.

"Now it's very good! We have a better life because I have much money and I have anything I want," he said.

Kareem has bought a new air conditioner and a new television for his family, now that his wages are 10 times his prewar salary — a whopping $200 a month. He proudly showed us his son, playing on their computer at home.

And he is one of the lucky ones. Some 70 percent of Iraqis are unemployed and desperate for work.

Many men with degrees in science, math and engineering sit on street corners waiting to be hired for manual labor jobs. They'll do anything: sweep streets, paint buildings — any kind of work to put food on the table for their families.

Fear Overshadows Some Optimism

And then there are the bombs and mortar attacks.

A few days after the Oct. 27 bombing of the Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad, Kareem took us to visit the power plant where he works. He was still smiling — but along with that smile was a look of concern.

"Security is the biggest problem in Iraq," he said. "Why did this happen now? We want to live in peace."