It is always smart not to depend too much on third-hand information, such as is found in headlines.

Some telling vignettes from inside the boundaries of the strange jungle of Iraq:

"The sky is still dark when Mohammed Khallaf, his wife Fadhila, and their 12 children begin to stir Thursday in their small house in the Shiite slum of Sadr City. First come the morning prayers, then the dash to school and work.

In the chaos of a big family, the shoes of the youngest boy, 9-year-old Yahya, cannot be found, bringing shouts and suspicions from the father.

Eventually, the boy admits he threw the shoes on the roof. No shoes, no school, he figured. On Thursday, he has science and he does not like his teacher.

With the shoes down, the children finally off to school and the oldest sons - ages 28 and 23 - off to jobs, Fadhila and her older daughters settle into their morning chores: washing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning the house."

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Most people try to live and move forward, no matter how trying their circumstances.

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