baghdad, kirkuk, these are cities that are crumbling. there is no construction.tion. the last thoughts on iraq and the regional dynamics, virtually all iraqis blame their neighbors for doing something bad to good. iran is the mother of all meddlers, turkey's engagement is seen as more positive and a balance to iran. we were told that turkey wa the power behind the formation of iraqi, and that when the coalition, which is the suni coalition headed by a shia, secular shiite, allawi, former prime minister, then when it was on the verge of fragmenting it was the turks who kept it together. whether this is true or not, people saw turkey as both protecting turkish interest, but also being the surrogate or the substitute for sunni-arab influence in iraq and that this was orchestrated, that basically arab states as the turks to play this role because they know their own credibility and standing in the country is lower. egypt was singled ou by the way for praise as the only major arab country that is currently back in the swing of things and having a more normal relations