Modern Iraq is under threat from every quarter, politics play havoc with ordinary lives and sanctions cut deep. However, today's rare visitors are met with a broad hospitality that belies years of deprivation. And behind the politics is a land as rich in history and legend as any in the Middle East. Here is Mesopotamia, where three great religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam - were born. Here are the ancient cities of Ur and Nineveh, and the site of Babylon.