not too long ago i noted that there had been a lot of attacks in baghdad's so-called "green zone" and wondered how bloody the place could get before it stopped being "green."
i was listening to NPR this afternoon, and heard them refer to it as "the international zone." apparently, the name changed right around the time i was wondering about the zone's green-ness.
but i'm not sure if "the international zone" is that great a name. it evokes the international settlement in early 20th century shanghai; a foreign enclave (technically "enclaves"--there were french and british-ruled sectors) that was created so foreigners could control the local drug trade. the very existence of the zone is now fondly remembered by the chinese as a national humiliation.
