Baghdad has never been cleaner,” says Mr. Saad, my driver, as we head south on the road from Baghdad to Babylon. There are hundreds of Iraqi men, both young and old, sweeping the sandy streets, painting yellow stripes on the curbs, and picking up garbage. A few minutes later we pass a graveyard with millions of dollars of destroyed Iraqi tanks, missile launchers and armored vehicles. On this road there are large factories, warehouses occupied by multinationals and American military installations. Every dusty kilometer there is another stand for Pepsi, cigarettes and petrol. Post-war Iraq is a confused mess of destruction, missed-opportunity and promise.

The precision of the US campaign in Iraq is quite astounding. One building can be completely destroyed and the one next to it may be in perfect condition. While the physical effects of the bombing may have been precise, the effects of the destruction on the population were less exact. During the campaign, I am told it looked like the entire city was on fire. People in Baghdad were quite scared during the war, not knowing what the next day held - whether the Americans would be a benevolent or repressive and violent force.

However, Iraqis were not just scared of the Americans. Qusay Hussein stayed in the residential neighborhood where I currently live. I am told by the neighbors that for the five days he was hiding here, not one neighbor slept. Everyone was scared that the US would destroy the neighborhood with blanket air strikes. They were also scared that a neighbor would inform the U.S. of Qusay’s whereabouts and the entire neighborhood would be retaliated against by the regime.

I would like to say that I am a part of a benevolent force. I worked in DC in a development firm for almost a year. Then, this summer the chance came to go out to the field and see what the work was really about. I was required to attend one week’s worth of military training in El Paso, Texas and then off I went to Baghdad.

My focus for the past six weeks has been assisting with the procurement and delivery of millions of dollars worth of school supplies and school furniture. As part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Revitalization of Iraqi Schools and Stabilization of Education (RISE) project, millions upon millions of dollars of school supplies and materials would be delivered to secondary schools across Iraq. My company was tasked with coordinating all the logistics of this operation.

We did things like coordinate delivery schedules, ensure quality control of materials and fix a lot of problems that arose during the process. It took a lot of effort to improve the production of student desks in Iraq. We had to facilitate the transfer of 70 trucks full of brand new chalkboards from Turkey to Iraq. We had to scour the souks of Baghdad to ensure that our student kits weren’t being sold on the blackmarket.

We work extremely long days but it really all became worth it when we went to monitor the distribution of student kits to a rundown girls’ secondary school. The school had broken windows in the courtyard, destroyed furniture in the hallways and dirt floors. The school had 600 students and they were thrilled to see the three Americans with their new supplies. All they did was smile, thank us and pose for pictures. In a country where education was neglected for years by the former regime, the one special day of attention seemed to really make an impact. Good things are happening in Iraq - sometimes you just have to turn off CNN and look past the front page of the Washington Post.

While the jury is still out on the weapons of mass destruction issue, it is clear from individual’s stories that the Hussein regime terrorized its population. Just about everyone seems to have stories about the secret police knocking on doors and people disappearing, knowledge about what went on in “interrogation” buildings and relatives that were forced to fight in the Iran-Iraq war. So people are in a better potential position without Hussein.

Furthermore, now that the heat of summer has passed in Baghdad, life is improving for many. Iraq is a virtual free trade zone. There are no taxes on anything and people are buying and trading goods in markets all across the cities. Satellite dishes and cell phones have become a symbol of status. This is the first time these electronics items have been allowed in the country. During the regime, the police would enter houses to do spot checks for satellite dishes. If you were found with a cellular phone, you ran the risk of losing your hand.

Students are starting school this week and the system is basically functioning. The new Minister of Education and local officials have shown great cooperation in working together and with the occupying Americans. However, it should be noted that these individuals were also handpicked by the Americans. Yet, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Security is still an issue in Baghdad. Most Iraqis, and even I, have adjusted to the occasional gunfire and explosions. There are also quite a few thieves running around at night; something that supposedly never happened during Saddam’s reign. And there are areas where one definitely should not be, whether it is day or night. Security has been cited as a reason for parents to not send their girls to school.

However, there is great promise for redevelopment in Iraq. I’ve heard that the disrepair of the country resulted from Saddam’s mismanagement of Iraq’s wealth. Too much money was spent on Saddam’s palaces and family. In addition, the country lost a lot of young men and spent billions of dollars in the wars with Iran and the United States. Iraq is looking to get away from all of this, and Iraqis speak optimistically about their new future. They want social services that work. They want freedom to listen and say what they want. They want jobs and they want respect. It looks like all of these things are within grasp. Iraqis seem willing to work to make their aspirations a reality.

Perhaps one of the most interesting twists is Iraq’s desire not to be led by external forces. Iraq obviously wants to wrestle its fate away from the American White House. Less obvious is Iraq’s desire for little interference from other Arab states in the region. Many Iraqis feel betrayed by their Arab neighbors and relations are not the warmest. I hear that they feel betrayed by states like Jordan for profiting from Saddam’s regime and also by Saudi Arabia for participating in the first Gulf War. Interestingly enough, there is also less solidarity with the Palestinians than I would have expected. When the issue of Palestinians comes up, conversations usually turn to the domestic implications of the Palestinian refugee crisis. Under Saddam’s regime, as a measure of goodwill to the anti-Zionist cause, Palestinians in Iraq were given free education and the best social services possible.

Iraqis talk proudly about Baghdad during the 1950’s as the capital of Arabia. They talk about how civilization started on the river banks of their country. They talk about the incredible physical resources and intellectual capacity of their country. They talk about their past and they talk about their future. After working in Iraq for a couple of months since the end of the war, it seems to me that America has a responsibility to assist with the creation of a bridge between a proud past and a peaceful and rich future. At the same time, Iraqis need more ownership of the process. We, as Americans, need to realize their future is not ours to control.