A Struggle to Secure Iraq’s Shared Past, and Perhaps Its Future

nytimes.com - BAGHDAD — Looted and shuttered after American troops seized Baghdad a dozen years ago, the National Museum of Iraq has officially reopened its doors — a response to Islamic State thugs’ taking jackhammers to ancient treasures in Mosul.

The message was clear: Baghdad and its government belong to the civilized world, and the Islamic State does not. American officials even returned some recovered objects to show solidarity.

But public relations are one thing, daily life in the long-suffering Iraqi capital another.