Alcohol in Iraq

"It started in the Green Zone, with Iraqi soldiers ordering restaurants to stop serving alcohol and confiscating bottles from politicians at checkpoints. Then, mysterious signs began appearing across the rest of Baghdad declaring alcohol sinful and warning of damnation for those who drink. Finally, the crackdown came. Phalanxes of soldiers and police officers descended on the nightclubs, cabarets and bars that had proliferated across the capital in the last two years and symbolized for many a return to normality." 1) Iraqi poets wrote the best poetry in praise of alcohol over time; 2) Alcohol bottles get more sympathetic coverage in the Western press than Iraqi civilians; 3) standards for normalcy of life in Western reporting are rather unique. 4) I hate jet lag very much.