Rare Snowfall Elicits Delight In Baghdad

Joyful, Emotional Response From War-Weary Iraqis; First Time Seeing Snow For Many In City

(AP)  After weathering nearly five years of war, Baghdad residents thought they'd pretty much seen it all. But Friday morning, as muezzins were calling the faithful to prayer, the people here awoke to something certifiably new.

For the first time in memory, snow fell across Baghdad.

Although the white flakes quickly dissolved into gray puddles, they brought an emotion rarely expressed in this desert capital snarled by army checkpoints, divided by concrete walls and ravaged by sectarian killings - delight.

"For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad," said Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old retiree from the New Baghdad area.

"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad," Abdul-Hussein said, referring to snow as a type of rain. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination."

Morning temperatures uncharacteristically hovered around freezing, and the Baghdad airport was closed because of poor visibility. Snow is common in the mountainous Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, but residents of the capital and surrounding areas could remember just hail.

"I asked my mother, who is 80, whether she'd ever seen snow in Iraq before, and her answer was no," said Fawzi Karim, a 40-year-old father of five who runs a small restaurant in Hawr Rajab, a village six miles southeast of Baghdad.

"This is so unusual, and I don't know whether or not it's a lesson from God," Karim said.

Some said they'd seen snow only in movies.

Talib Haider, a 19-year-old college student, said "a friend of mine called me at 8 a.m. to wake me up and tell me that the sky is raining snow."

"I rushed quickly to the balcony to see a very beautiful scene," he said. "I tried to film it with my cell phone camera. This scene has really brought me joy. I called my other friends and the morning turned to be a very happy one in my life."

An Iraqi who works for The Associated Press said he woke his wife and children shortly after 7 a.m. to "have a look at this strange thing." He then called his brother and sister and found them awake, also watching the "cotton-like snow drops covering the trees."

For a couple of hours anyway, a city where mortar shells routinely zoom across to the Green Zone became united as one big White Zone. As of late afternoon, there were no reports of violence. The snow showed no favoritism as it fell faintly on neighborhoods Shiite and Sunni alike, and (with apologies to James Joyce) upon all the living and the dead.

[glaswolf]

It is telling that their was a noticeable lack of suicide bombings while flakes fell. Maybe we should put snow making machines suspended by blimps over the hot spots. If these folks are even half as mystical as I suspect, perhaps they will all take it as a sign from their gods to "cool it a little" for progress is incremental like the snow flakes melting to waterw which bring a brief respite quenching the thirst for peace to an otherwise dusty dangerous place.

[jankebenz]

Logic??? Canada--- Please change you.re post name as you are a disgrace to the country with you''re filthy and obscene language.

[j-whitman]

It wasn''t snow --- It was tabs of LSD, to pacify the population for the eventual return of a Sunni Saddam like government.

[logicanada]

If it can freeze in Florida and blizzard in California, why is snow in Baghdad such a story?
Look at a map and check latitudes.

[logicanada]

hawksprings. . .for the first part of your reply, thank you!
For the second part, correct.

[olebd]

Could this be a secret nuclear winter??

[libsluvsuvs]

its a bad sign..

[crater7]

THATS THE WEATHER THAT USUALLY PRECEDES DR. DEATH.

WHERE''S THE COWBOY?

RUN FOR THE HILLS, SHOCK AND AWE IS NEAR......

[hawksprings]

"(Gee, I could work for FOX using posits like these!)"
Posted by logicanada

Or you could work for the Clinton Campaign. They''re really good at that kind of stuff too. You should hear the comments and insinuations they''re making about Obama.

One would almost say the Clintons and their people are racist. But we all know that it''s impossible for Democrats to be racist. Only Republicans are racist.

[missingamerica]

Snowing in Baghdad?

My, but Bush has exquisite timing for his visit to the Middle East...he''s gone and figured out a way to counter those Arabs who''ve sworn it''ll be a cold day in hell before they believe anything Bush says.

[logicanada]

mocaleo...you seem preoccupied with anals ex and orals ex.
Abused as a child?
Child abuser?


(Gee, I could work for FOX using posits like these!)

[logicanada]

mocaleo, ... a true friend is someone who goes out to get two bl*wjobs and brings one home for you.

[hawksprings]

mocaleo,

Now tell us how many people were murdered in Detroit, New Orleans, Orlando, Miami, and L.A. in the same time period.

[antizion]

Flash! The one day CBS does not have a Brittney story to dumb down and distract the masses it snows in hell. Great, now the jews control the weather too...

[antizion]

Bush calls on Israel to pull back to their own territory and it snows in hell. Not surprised really.

[extremophil]

If you global-warming Braniacs will bother to read the article, Abdul-Hussein said "When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early ''40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad."

Sorry to confuse you with logic and facts, so go back to sleep.

[walt1944-2009]

The Great Emperor Bush II is taking credit for allowing Iraqis to witness and "enjoy" the first snowfall in living memory.

The Emperor claims that if it were not for his policies (or lack of same) regarding global warming, Iraqis would wake up to another day of typical Middle Eastern weather. Of course, the Emperor has said nothing about the 60 degree weather enjoyed(?) in the Midwest of the USSA a week ago (together with all the flooding and tornadoes it brought), but that is the Emperor''s and the typical neocon Fascist Republican way: say only the good things and ignore the bad!!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[logicanada]

WOW!!!!
What it is this things dropping from the sky?
Not bombs???
JOY JOY!!!

[rohink-2009]

My nephew is in serving in Baghdad. I hope it brightened his day a little.

Posted by sanevoice

~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope so and thank you for this post. Let''s hope it brought a little joy to all.

[mudrose-2009]

"Al Gore is strangely quiet........."
Posted by squidly8

He''''s trying to cut down on his greenhouse gas emissions so that Baghdad doesn''''t freeze over.

Posted by hawksprings

While the Iraqis take great delight in the manifestation of snow, the stupid Californians are attempting to control their resident''s thermostats. Only goes to show you how Bore is making everyone nuts.