War in offing, Baghdad bustles with few signs of worry

Any week now, US soldiers may come storming toward Baghdad, bringing the risk of turmoil — or worse — into the students’ lives. Some almost certainly would be called upon to fight. Food, electricity and medicine could become scarce or disappear. Yet none of that came up without prompting on a crisp winter day in the Iraqi capital. ‘‘We laugh, we dance, we have fun,’’ said Talib. And the war? ‘‘We leave it to God.’’

Baghdad on the brink does not feel like a city facing war. The markets are full of shoppers, the mosques full of worshippers. The streets are clear of soldiers and tanks. Youngsters chase after soccer balls. Teenagers trade tapes of the Backstreet Boys. Adults buy bootleg discs of the latest James Bond thriller. Restaurateurs prepare kebab or grill fish.

People go about their business dismissing the threat as the latest chapter in a long-running battle. At Ahmed Ewaiad’s wedding shop, would-be grooms flock in looking to rent a BMW or Mercedes festooned with plastic flowers for the big day. The going rate is $12.50 to $20 a day. ‘‘Our people aren’t thinking of war,’’ said Ewaiad, 25. ‘‘Weddings are going on just like old times.’’

This is what passes for normal in a place where the meaning of the word has long since Warped — a place where gasoline costs 3 cents a gallon but an oil pump is impossible to find, a place where the minarets of a mosque are compared to missiles, a place where the popcorn machines are filled with potato chips.

So many aspects of ordinary life have been obliterated over the years that just getting by can be a war in itself. The threat of another one seems unreal. Perhaps it is a denial like that of so many cities before invaders arrive, or perhaps people here really are used to the idea of war.

Maybe people are afraid to be honest in the presence of the government minders who accompany foreign journalists. Yet, even out of earshot of the escorts, Iraqis express more fatalism than worry, a sense that their lives are out of their hands, so they might as well get on with them while they can. (LATWP)