Riverbend Returns

The famous Iraqi blogger re-emerges in Syria:

As we crossed the border and saw the last of the Iraqi flags, the tears began again ... The first minutes after passing the border were overwhelming. Overwhelming relief and overwhelming sadness ... How is it that only a stretch of several kilometers and maybe twenty minutes, so firmly segregates life from death?

…I wonder at how the windows don’t rattle as the planes pass overhead. I’m trying to rid myself of the expectation that armed people in black will break through the door and into our lives. I’m trying to let my eyes grow accustomed to streets free of road blocks, hummers and pictures of Muqtada and the rest…

How is it that all of this lies a short car ride away?