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The Washington Post has an article on some of the day-to-day work of rebuilding Iraq. At times it's ha-ha-only-crying funny:

“So the economy? Boy,” Sherman said, rubbing his brow, “you got me there. Big problem.”

But the ending section--about an attempt to weed Najaf's judiciary of its most corrupt members--brings some joy to a sap like me:

Roe sought out the women and convinced them they had rights — as women, as lawyers. “This is the first time in our lives we have experienced democracy. It is a beautiful thing,” Kassar said. “Everyone is excited. Everyone is here. All the lawyers standing in the sun. Not complaining. Coming to vote.”

Kassar said that before, “the women attorneys were pushed into a small narrow corner.” They could practice a limited specialty of civil litigation, essentially securing benefits for widows and juveniles. “All the big cases, all the criminal cases, they were decided at tables outside of the courthouse. You understand?” Kassar said. “Women could not sit at these tables.”

Distressingly, the article doesn't say how the weeding turned out.