'It's different when it's your own country'

Today's Mobile Register has a well-written, detailed feature on life for the handful of people who remain in New Orleans. On the bright side, the story notes that about half of the city is dry now and that the French Quarter, which fuels the city's tourism industry, is largely intact after Hurricane Katrina.

But plenty of grim news remains, too. The city's Ninth Ward, already one of New Orleans' poorest neighborhoods, essentially is ruined, and U.S. troops are encountering indescribable scenes of death and destruction as they work tirelessly to clean up the mess. As a commander whose soldiers recently served in Afghanistan and Iraq said, "This is comparable in a way, but it's different when it's your own country."