Returning To A Changed Baghdad

For the first time in six months, Labib Abu Ali is back in Baghdad.

He brought his whole family - including his wife and four kids - by bus from Syria.

At home, they enjoy simple pleasures: a family meal at the kitchen table, a soccer game behind the house. These are simple pleasures that have been so difficult to achieve, CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor reports.

"First of all, welcome back to Baghdad," Glor said.

"Thank you very much," Ali said.

What made him feel it was safe to return back home?

Through a translator, Ali said, "I made this decision because I can go outside now and I don't see killings, or explosions, or mortars."

While away, Ali escaped the violence, but there were other issues.

In Syria and Jordan, where most of the Iraqis went, refugees are not allowed to work. It's why they're so eager to return. Now, 20,000 have done so between mid-September and the end of November.

Still only a fraction of those who left, but progress - made possible because of the surge.

The U.S. military is quick to acknowledge Baghdad is not back to normal. It's not completely safe. But there's no question it's easier to move around. You can see evidence of that all over the capitol city.

In barbershops, chairs fill up. Not long ago it was too dangerous for a man to get a shave or a western-style haircut. It was sacrilege, punishable by death.

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Read more from Glor at Couric & Co. Blog.

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Many refugees who return find their homes occupied by others, or badly damaged. The Iraqi government has no real plan to handle this.

Ali is one of the lucky ones.

What does he hope for himself and his family?

"What I hope for my family and for all of Iraq is the return of happiness," Ali said through a translator. "I hope we will see more Iraqi groups come together. We need smiles to return. I hope we can find smiles."

The good news for him: In his own backyard, on his own kids' faces, he can see those smiles already.