As there is lull (though not complete) in violence in Bagdad, particularly in the south, more children play in the streets. However, the local army has ordered children to surrender all toy guns to save American and Iraqi troops from distracting while searching for insurgents and weapons cache.

The toy gun ban highlights how jittery the US and Iraqi forces remain in a country where the enemy doesn’t wear a uniform. Well, the question that comes to mind is: will this ban help reduce al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq recruiting young boys and training them to kidnap and kill?