Some positives from the Chicago Tribune:

If there is any hope that things may be going right in Iraq, it can be found beneath the whirling ceiling fans and tear-dropped chandeliers of the Shabandar cafe.

Iraqis thirsting for sweet tea and political talk have always stopped by the Baghdad cafe, even during years of tyranny. Now they come clutching fresh newspapers to openly talk about the future and, more important, what it means to be an Iraqi in these times of tumult.

...

"I haven't had electricity, and I can't read at night," said printer Qaisi Yassin, as he sipped a tiny tumbler of piping hot tea, defying yet another sweltering Baghdad morning. "And now, my child is like a bat. It's so hot he can only come out at night.

"But am I mad at the Americans? What does that mean? Were they supposed to come with a magic wand?"

...

Jafar Adel Amr is a tool salesman who has spent his Friday mornings sitting on wooden benches in the corners of Shabandar for more than 10 years. He remembers when people would cautiously size up the person next to them before speaking.

"You never knew who was sitting next to you," he said. "In the past no one would dare to just speak out. Now everybody is talking. About federalism, about a monarchy. ... I think our aims are just one, to eliminate persecution for anyone ever again."

The full story requires registration at the CT site along with more personal info than I care to give