Amid the bombs and the rubble, the country is still slowly on the mend

It is proving much harder than the Americans expected, but the rebuilding of a shattered country is still going steadily ahead

Oct 30th 2003|baghdad

EVERY day, small propeller-driven aircraft corkscrew steeply down into Baghdad airport, lessening the risk of being hit by shoulder-fired missiles. The war-blasted facility is back in full working order, and half a dozen big airlines have been licensed to use it. But the terror threat remains too pressing to admit anything but these costly charter flights, underwritten by the American government, from Amman, neighbouring Jordan's capital.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Amid the bombs and the rubble, the country is still slowly on the mend”