Stories from the “Iraqi Blogodrome” on the most recent Global Voices Iraq round-up contain some interesting thoughts, including one post suggesting that the country would be better served by a military government, at least in the short term, to bring peace and stability with a firm hand. Another less political post is a bit more uplifting:

I once paid a fortune in an Italian restaurant to eat samples of few truffles brought all the way from Tuscany in Italy, and were served to me in such a fuss as if I was about to eat pieces of gold!

Oh my dear Iraq, if only they’ve tasted your muddy truffles that we used to buy in big sacs and spent ages to clean.

We the people of Iraq are exactly like our crops! Rough, tough, harsh and scarred, but once you open them up, you see the real flavour of kindness, generosity and genuineness.