As my recent FP web-exclusive predicted, Iraq has followed in the steps of Colombia in becoming a bona fide tourist destination.

The first Iraqi-sanctioned tourist excursion to the country just concluded this Sunday -- filled with U.S. and British tourists, including a 77-year-old pensioner. The trip has been going smoothly, though with a few adventures, so to speak. "We've had security problems everywhere but we expected some of these,"  the managing director of the travel agency, Geoff Hann, told the AFP.

For now, it's still a gamble. "My friends certainly think I'm a bit mad,"  one British tourist told the BBC. But I'm betting there are many others with precisely her style of mania who will be signing up Iraq tours soon. 

ALI YUSSEF/AFP/Getty Images