CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE QAYYARAH WEST, Iraq – I was flipping through the radio stations we receive out here at Q-West (there aren’t many) and came across an audio feed of an Armed Forces Network television channel.

The broadcast was the audio feed from "Jeopardy!" On a starry night in the Iraqi desert, I listened to Alex Trebek deliver answers about cows, literature and history.

Freedom truly has come to Iraq. Or at least the greatest quiz show of all time.

QAYYARAH, Iraq – We were driving out of the marketplace. The rains had turned the streets to mud. Most of the shops had closed. Few people were on the streets.

But as the convoy of an Mine Resistant Ambushed Protected vehicle and three Humvees began to drive away, an Iraqi boy sprinted from one of the shops to the roadside, where he smiled wide and offered a big thumbs-up. (Sorry the photo isn’t great. I scrambled to get my camera and then snapped a shot through the muddy windows.)

It was one of those encouraging moments that often get lost in the talk of roadside bombs and the Sons of Iraq and the status of forces agreement.