NO WONDER THE LEFT OPPOSES THE LIBERATION:

Parents, kids both welcome reopening of private schools (Zaid Sabah, 9/28/06, USA TODAY)

Under Saddam Hussein, all Iraqi children attended government-run schools that taught a standardized, state-approved curriculum.

Now, private schools that provide specialized programs and less-crowded classrooms are beginning to open in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.

"In the pre-Saddam Hussein era, private schools were common in the country. But after 1979 (when Saddam became president), these schools were banned," says Ibrahim Abed Wali, manager of the private teaching sector of Iraq's Education Ministry.