Stability is coming to Iraq as the people recognize that its leadership is gaining credibility.

“When President Maliki decided on his own to go after the Saddrists in Basra and in Sadr City, that was huge,” Bisbee said. “The people want a strong government.”

Bisbee believes the people in Iraq are among the smartest and toughest in the Middle East, which he thinks gives the nation the best chance to develop a democracy.

“They recognize they have to get away from identity politics — religious or tribal — and instead focus on ideas and issues,” he said. “It’s not about sectarianism. It’s about upgrading economically.”

While he has seen progress in the 29 months he’s spent in Iraq since 2005, there are bumps in the road ahead, he said.

“The Sunni question will come back later this year,” he said. “When the money runs out, then what?”

He explained that massive amounts of money have been given to Sunni factions to encourage them to cooperate with the Shiite national government.

And with the U.S. presidential election coming up in November, there is strong pressure to bring American troops home.

“We’re missing the point if that’s what we focus on,” he said. “It’s much more complex than that. What do we want our policy to achieve?”

Committed to the future

But from his own perspective, from knowing Iraqis personally, he is optimistic.

A month before he left Baghdad, he said, he was invited by an Iraqi colleague for a drink after work.

“We went to a social club in downtown Baghdad. It looked like a bar here, with guys sitting around talking and smoking, with their beers and whiskeys,” he said. “They were all professionals, doctors, lawyers and so on. They’re all there because they are committed to the future of their country. These were guys who could have left, but they stayed on.”

A few days later, he attended the graduation of Baghdad University’s school of dentistry.

“These were young people, in the middle of a war, who still believe in the future.”