To mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, and the regime of Saddam Hussein, to US-led coalition forces, thousands of Sh'ia Iraqis answered the call of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and converged on their holy cities to protest the continued US-led occupation of their nation. While such a development is in opposition to the US, this does show some improvements for the situation in Iraq.
A critical point seems to be that in these protests, it has been the Iraqi flag flying, not those of political sects. Thus, even if the Iraqis are opposing the US, they are doing so together! Also, their mere gathering reflects the move of Iraq toward a free society in peaceful free assembly and expression (as observed by a US diplomat).
Meanwhile, an Iraqi commentator to NPR this morning noted that the Sunni opposition is being forced to come into the mainstream political position due to the decline of the insurgence movement. He believes that Sunnis had intitially opted for a military resistance, leaving only moderates to participate in the Iraqi government. Now, though, as the insurgency is seen as fading (in this analyst's opinion), the Sunnis are being forced to turn to the existing, moderate political participants.
These points are both small steps, but they do seem to reflect a tiny ebb of the tide for Iraq. Hopefully, such progress will continue, and Iraqis will be united around a free, peaceful society, and be able to justly evict occupying forces.
I relaly hope you're right. I hope tiny progresses can help birng back American soldiers and relieve the iraqis fron constant warfare atmosphere. After 911 i guess we a;ll know how it is to live in fear and under constant security. Howver, i'm sure it's much worse over there with people dieing everyday.