Valentine's Day in Baghdad

Iraqis know about Valentine's Day. In fact, two Iraqis have approached me in the past few days to remind me it was near. I asked one of them if they had always marked Valentine's Day and he said no, not until the invasion four years ago.

I asked him what they called it, in Arabic.

He said, "Val-len-tynes Day" and rolled his eyes like I was the dumbest person on Earth.