Stop and think for a moment about some of the areas that have seen the greatest devastation in recent history—say, the last dozen years or so. You might think of a war zone like Afghanistan. You might think of the Japanese shores, ravaged by storms, or even of the United States cities hit hard by floods. But certainly at the top of anyone’s list would be Iraq—what with the ongoing effects of prolonged military combat—and, of course, our own New Orleans.
