Exchanging the Dead

Iraq has finally set a date for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, but the remnants of older wars still linger. For the first time in five years, Iraq and Iran met at a border crossing to exchange the bodies of casualties, resuming a practice that ended when the U.S. invasion of Iraq began in 2003. The war between the two nations, which claimed over 1 million lives, ended 20 years ago. “We want to pursue this long unresolved humanitarian case until it is totally closed,” said Mohammed Baghban, the Iranian Consul in Basra. The bodies of 41 Iranians and 200 Iraqis were exchanged while families wept and military bands played. "There will be more remains to be handed over because there are still people missing,” Baghban said.