Iraq Update 07/10/05
Greetings to all and hope all are well are the home front. We all feel pretty bad for what happened to our friends in the United Kingdom. Some of our friends here lost family and loved ones. It just demonstrates that such an assault can happen anywhere and at anytime. We really just need to be cognizant of our surroundings and understand that there is no dealing with these terrorists. They don't like us and what we stand for and want us enslaved or dead.
Well, Ive seen some more very funny things and not so funny things this week.
On the funny side, the palm trees that surround our living quarters are dropping dates all the time. The dates are about the size of my thumb. They are really huge. My brother would probably be gathering them up and drying them. I have had some dates (the fruit kind of course) here and they are very tasty. The Iraqis put almonds in them and other things as well.
I got my haircut this week. Not that getting ones haircut is really newsworthy in and of itself but the Iraqi barbers utilized a different technique in getting the hair off of my ears. They utilize sewing thread that is spun which grabs the hair and yanks it out. It stings a little but its amazing how it takes the hair off. I certainly wouldn't want it done to the rest of my body. That would be torture.
You know, there are a lot of people in the Green Zone who carry weapons. You've got military, law enforcement, private security, foreign militaries, etc., etc. I've seen every type of rig and set up you can imagine. But this week just when Ive thought that Ive seen everything, in walks this lady that has to be at least 70 if she's a day old. She's rather chunky looking standing about 5??™4??? and weighing in at about 175. She's got glasses and light tinted hair (commonly referred to as a blue hair). Shes wearing pants, older type walking shoes, and a long sleeve blouse draped down outside of her pants. On the top of that shes got a 9mm Berretta in a shoulder holster under one arm with two additional magazines hung from the other side. I mean to tell you she looks like somebody's grandma!!! I can only hope that I can discreetly get a picture of her because her get up is just classic. I have no idea of her job function but Id love to find that out too.
We got a call earlier in the week over the PA system requesting blood at the IZ hospital. Knowing this has been a rough week, 4 of us went over to give blood. When we got there, we were told by the hospital staff that the message got screwed up and they were not in a desperate need. We said we were there, so go ahead and take it and use it later. They said no unless we would just give platellettes which they could store for a longer period of time. It takes 1.5 hours to give platellettes so we left our cards and said call us if you need blood in a hurry (24-7) and we'd be there. Going back out we took a wrong turn and ended up in the ER where 4 people were working on a soldier with a bad leg wound. They had him sedated and ventilated. Not a pretty sight and just a grim reminder that there still is a war going on around here and people are getting hurt. On the bright side, it is amazing what the medics can do. They are great at keeping casualties down where possible. Don't forget to thank these soldiers when they return from their service.
On the lighter side, we kind of make it a point to bring sodas with us when we are going through a check point to leave something cold for the Marines. When we had gone to give blood, we brought a lot of fruit juices with us. We tried to give those to the Marines and they wouldn't take them. They were still cold but it was obvious they wanted soda pop. I have to remember that a lot of these (soldiers) kids are my daughter's ages or younger. You see them in the chow hall eating pizza for dinner, chips and fries for lunch, and even ice cream for breakfast. I tend to give them a friendly scolding and then we all laugh together about it. Don't get me wrong, the DFAC serves good nutritional food. It's just sometimes these guys and gals are junk food junkies.
Two other special agents and I met a couple of young soldiers (early twenties) at dinner. One soldier was really burned out and was talking about going to jail rather than serve any longer. We had a chat with him and told him not to ruin his whole life over another month or two. They were here to testify in local court against an Iraqi who was carrying a hand grenade behind the seat of his truck when they stopped him. Nice eh? Im sure they've been through a lot and it isn't easy for them. Some handle it a lot better than others.
Well, this week I was able to confirm that some of our folks here as well as some of the Iraqis don't have this country's best interest at heart. Its not anything that I didn't know but when you uncover the corruption, it makes me really angry, first for the loss of our soldiers and secondly for the plight of these people. I tend to start a slow burn when I document that people are trying to get rich and have a good time at government expense and loss of life while a war is going on. I also learned a lot about the Iraqi military that under the prior regime if they didn't get paid, they resorted to foraging and this was not isolated. That basically meant that they would literally go house to house, take money, weapons, food, and whatever else they wanted without any retribution. I learned of one incident where the victim of this treatment said he didn't want his money back but he wanted his AK-47 back. God, it really hits home what we have in the USA. Could you imagine having soldiers walk into your home, demand that you cook for them, have them take whatever they want from your premises, maybe even sleep in your rooms, and then walk away without retribution. I believe our 3rd amendment to the US Constitution prevents this. If I've learned anything, it's not to take our freedoms for granted because a lot of the world has no clue what freedom or liberty really means.
Man, it's been really dusty this week. I'd say we had dust storms at least 4 out of 7 days. Today the temperature hit 119. With the wind, it feels like a blast furnace and the dust gets into everything. You can even taste the dust in your mouth.
Oh, I guess I'll close on another note. I've started taking some pictures of the inside of the Embassy Palace. Ive also been to Adnan Palace but the Iraqi Security has requested no pictures be taken in there. I plan to respect their wishes but it is truly amazing how ornate these places are. Understand that the marble, solid doors, copper hardware, etc. all come from other countries. I thought there were 7 palaces nationwide. There are 74 such palaces. One of the bathrooms I entered was the size of our master bedroom, office, master bath, and one of my daughters' bed room combined together. Everything is stone and the floors are mosaic. The place is so huge the pictures don't really do it justice. I cant really start to describe the self gratification and gluttonous behavior that has gone on by the former regime while the rest of the country was left in sheer squalor. Anyway, I don't want to sound like a broken record but thats the way it is.
Okay, we'll see what the next week holds in store. In the meantime, all y'all take care and stay well. I like hearing from you and enjoy news from the home front so please drop a line when you have time.
All the best. Bob
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