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Inside Sadr City: How the deadly slum became the ‘place of peace’

For thousands of U.S. personnel who fought in the Iraq War, Baghdad’s destitute Sadr City holds a pivotal place in their memories. Not only the years spent dodging ceaseless bullets, but the years spent trying to clean up the squalor, to win the hearts and minds, to show that there was a humanitarian side to […]

Hollie McKay writes for Fox News:

For thousands of U.S. personnel who fought in the Iraq War, Baghdad’s destitute Sadr City holds a pivotal place in their memories. Not only the years spent dodging ceaseless bullets, but the years spent trying to clean up the squalor, to win the hearts and minds, to show that there was a humanitarian side to the war after all.

So what became of the district, commonly known as the Thawra District, once deemed the ultimate danger zone?

Today, the soundtrack of the impoverished Shia-dominant Sadr City is a chorus of constant car honks and the shrilling, infant-like screams of poultry being burned alive in the open slaughterhouses. The pavements are still thick with animal blood and urine. But the faces that stare back are ones smiling, working, sweeping floors, selling spices and scarves or slaughtering livestock.