Odd things in this morning's paper, Part II

Freedom's on the march..

BAGHDAD -- For the first time in more than a month, 19-year-old Mustafa al-Adhami ventured out of his home recently in his hardscrabble neighborhood...For Sunnis in Iraq, our destiny holds only two options: We either find a way to leave this country or we will be killed."

With that dire outlook, al-Adhami has become part of a growing population of young people who are living solitary lives as a result of the intractable violence plaguing the capital. As grisly insurgent bombings and sectarian killings keep mounting, many in Baghdad's younger generation wonder whether they are watching their youth slip away to a protracted war.

The next statement is even more telling (except for the debatable recreation value of beard trimming.)

Most nights he whiles away his free time trimming his beard, watching television if the electricity is running and lying around thinking about how much better his life was a few years ago.

But..they had elections! Freedom! Hard work, makin' progress..and dying amidst hopelessness and despair.