Jerhad!com

News From Iraq X

Greetings All:

Well, I thought I'd write just one more time. This time I think I'm leaving to go back to the States for a short R&R and some training. I've just learned I have a contact to make while back in the States and my boss told me there may be more. I'm not going to fight that as it will extend my time back in the States before I return to Iraq.

It is unbelievable how hard it is to get out of here. I'll depart tonight and can't leave Kuwait until Friday. It will be a full night of travel.

People ask me if we are doing any good over here. I have to say that we are but that burning desire for freedom needs to be instilled in more of the Iraqis. We had occasion to seize some rifles this week and as we were putting them in storage, a couple of the young Iraqi men that work at the palace wanted to see what we had. I told them that they should each have one to help fight the insurgents. A couple of the fellows sort of reeled back with a look of fear. I gave them a short lecture that all Iraqis need to stand up against these insurgents or they will be living in slavery for the rest of their lives. Even though most are Muslims, they do not accept what the insurgency advocates. I think they've been told what to do for so long, it will take awhile for them to break out of that mold. The other factor is that there are some Iraqi politicians that would just as well take a side line and let the United States do everything. That just can't happen. They will have to stand on their own or they will face their own consequences. The Kurds appear to demonstrate that they can do it. Time will tell.

Speaking of rifles, the weapons we seized are the ultimate in combat rifles. Don't get me wrong, I like my M-4 but these are Sig Sauer Rifles that are the standard issue for the Swiss Army. I mean when you look at the workmanship and the versatility of these rifles, they are just heads and shoulders above the rest. They even have an adjustable gas port so that in extreme cold weather or in extreme dirty conditions, the gas chamber can be adjusted to keep the weapon firing. Naturally everyone wants to turn in the M-4's and carry these. Unfortunately, they are evidence. The reason they are evidence is that they were brought into the country illegally and were not issued to whom they were supposed to be directed. Unfortunately, these rifles are not allowed into the US. They are the Mercedes Benz of weapons. The rifles were acquired here for about $900 each. They were banned from the US in about 1986. The pre ban rifles in the US are going for about $8,000 each.

Well, we are holding on with the choir but we are losing faster than we are gaining. Our flutist and our last guitar player are departing for home. We have two piano players and that's it. Hopefully we can get some more volunteers.

Father Dennis was really funny this morning. We had an attack and so no one was allowed to leave their present premises. I was in the palace getting coffee as was Father. There were several people who wanted breakfast but we were banned from leaving. However, another person comes over and says they are letting people out the front door to smoke. So Father says Good, if I can't eat, I'll smoke. He turns and heads out the door. Before that, he said coming over to the palace, a group of new comers were heading to a bunker and almost ran him over. Typically here, there's is usually only one round of incoming at a time. The technology is so good that with a second round, the military is able to pin point the exact location and the chopper is on them before they can do anything and the bad guys end up getting whacked.

In that we have everybody in country again with SIGIR Investigations, we decided to take a group picture which I am attaching. We took quite a few of these but one seemed to turn out better. One of our new agents was having trouble with sending the picture to a group e mail address. I was trying to help him and I almost hit the send button for the global address. There was a comment in the email to the effect that here was SIGIR Delta Force. I'm sure there would have been plenty of people here that may not be too amused including the 44 generals, the ambassadors, and our own Inspector General. However, you have to look at it on the bright side. What are they going to do to us ----- send us to Baghdad?

I was thinking of a few things that I am going to have to adjust to when I return to the States. At church, the altar servers, lectors, eucharist ministers, and choir won't be armed. There won't be M-16 and SAWS in the pews. At the YMCA, there won't be a sign that says you must have your weapon and identification with you at all times. Do not leave them unattended. I will be able to brush my teeth with tap water. I'll actually get cold water from the tap with maybe some water pressure above the trickle mark. The Humvees I see won't be the military version with gun turrets and .30 & .50 cal machine guns on top. The SUV's won't be up armored with some full of holes. There won't be tanks at either end of the bridges and I'll be able to drive by myself in day time and at night. I'll have to be sure not to finish eating, get up, and throw my silverware and plates in the garbage. I'll have to pay for gasoline rather than just showing some body an authorization card. And I'll have to pump the gas myself. I won't need to go through two check points and show identification when going to the gym. And I won't be wearing a firearm 24-7. Actually I would prefer to keep it with me until I've cleared Iraq but the Kuwaitis take a dim view of that so I can't leave it there. The military will accept firearms at Ali Al Salem air base but only for military.

I hope to see some of you upon my return. For those that I won't see, please know you're in my thoughts and prayers. Take care and keep our soldiers and our fellow citizens in the South in your prayers as well. Bob

News From Iraq IX

Iraq Update – September 5, 2005

Greetings all and Happy Labor Day.  Maybe I should re-phrase it to Thankful Labor Day and ask that we focus our thoughts and prayers to our fellow citizens and residents in the South who have endured so much suffering.  We seem to be able to construct some pretty hefty explosives and bombs and such but it pales in comparison with the raw power of nature. 

Disasters like the aftermath of Katrina are really tough to deal with no matter how prepared a country can be.  After having been exposed to Operation Iraqi Freedom, I’ve really come to understand how challenging the logistics are in moving massive amounts of equipment and personnel.  It just doesn’t happen with the flick of a switch and a phone call to “muster the troops.” 

I really feel bad for troops and civilian personnel that are stationed here who are incapable of learning if their love ones are well or what has happened to them.  That’s got to be so tough.  Shortly after Katrina hit, there was an “all hands” soliciting input from military personnel from the LA, MS, & AL areas and asking how Katrina had impacted them.  I thought that was rather insensitive considering that these people are at least 8,000 miles away and many have not had contacts with their families and friends.  I think the request was retracted rather quickly. 

We had a rather unnerving incident in the cafeteria a few days back.  The DFAC closes at 08:30 A.M. but one can still finish breakfast while the workers are cleaning up.  As we were just finishing up, one of our agents notices a person in civilian clothes walk in through the exit door carrying a large back pack and heading into the main DFAC area.  Two of our agents confronted him while the rest covered the area.  As it turns out the man was an interpreter who said he came through the back door as the front was locked and the guard told him to use the back entrance.  At first he was little defensive but when he saw guns and badges, he backed down rather quickly.  You just can’t be too careful around here.  A backpack filled with explosives could do some major damage in a hurry. 

I know I’ve been trying to get home for the last three weeks.  It looks like it will come to fruition but isn’t final yet.  Now, the weather report is for another big dust storm to hit.  I just hope it blows itself out before I’m scheduled to depart.  What a royal pain.  Even when things go right, it still takes a full week to get out of here. 

Speaking of leaving, I have two friends who are JAGS, one in the Air Force and the other in the Army.  The Air Force JAG was scheduled to leave on September 1, 2005.  His departure was canceled because his replacement had not arrived and the general ordered him to stay until the replacement is actually in theater.  My other friend, the Army JAG, was ready to throw a fit.  He is also scheduled to leave.  He has his reservations, orders, he’s all checked out but he’s missing one thing.  All military officers irrespective of their position are required to carry a weapon.  However, their weapons are carried unloaded but they must possess a full magazine.  (Silly as that may sound, it does make some sense.)  Most of these individuals have very little training or exposure to their weapons and only qualify at most once per year.  We, on the other hand, carry weapons in a hot position but we qualify once per month.  The training that law enforcement receives far surpasses what the average military person receives greatly.  The real point of this is that all military personnel are allowed to transport their weapons in and out of country through Kuwait whereas law enforcement are not allowed that privilege and must turn in their weapons here for shipment back to the States.  Well, here my friend sits with all of his orders intact; everything is ready to go except for one piece of correspondence.  He was not provided with his letter of authorization to transport his Beretta 9mm through Kuwait back to the States.  He does not have the option of leaving it here.  Was he a little steamed?  Yeah, you might say that but all you can really do is laugh about it. 

Speaking of laughing, Father Dennis was hilarious after mass on Saturday night.  During the Lord’s Prayer, apparently a few of the choir members were saying the words a little faster than Father and in that we have microphones, the congregation followed suit.  Although this was done unwittingly, we received some fairly poignant stares from Father who by voice inflection and facial expression slowed the prayer down considerably.  After mass, Father asked who in the choir was saying the Lord’s Prayer at warp speed.  We all looked a little sheepish.  Father said if it happened again, he would super glue our lips shut and turn us into Protestants.  You have to know Father Dennis.  He sometimes comes off like he’s tough but he has a heart of gold and is full of love. 

We had another rather laughable situation.  We had work to do at one of the bases called Taji.  We had requested a personal security detail so that we could drive to Taji instead of using the Blackhawk so that we would have vehicles available to us.  At the last minute, the PSD’s cancelled the detail claiming that the threat level was too high.  Now several of our guys have worked in SWAT and done tours in Viet Nam and we all couldn’t see what raised the threat any more than any other day.  So knowing we can’t fight this thing, we re-book on the chopper.  Then we get a call from the PSD.  They learned that we were going on the chopper and wanted to know if we wanted them to come with us.  The agent on the telephone said “What do you plan on doing?  Holding our hands during the flight?”  We got a pretty good laugh out of that.  I mean the Blackhawks have a pilot and a co-pilot plus two machine gunners.  We are all armed so what are these extra people going to do for us?  Hopefully we didn’t totally destroy our rapport with them because we need to work with them in the future. 

Well, that’s about it.  Please take care and I’ll keep in touch.  Best regards to all.  Bob

News From Iraq VIII

Iraq Update 8.28.05

Greetings all.  Wow did I crash and burn earlier this week?  I got some sort of stomach thing that just knocked me on my duff.  It took me a full 3 days to get back up to speed.  However, I think I’m better now.  I worked out hard today and survived so that was a good thing

I’ve spent some time trying to re-schedule some training and travel back home but they (the illustrious and all knowing Headquarters) keep changing the damn rules and policy.  I just hope I can get ‘er done.  Hopefully I will be out of here either next week or the week after.  I am definitely ready for a change in scenery.  Although I’m really thinking when I rebuild the back yard fence, I might just do it with T Walls.  They’re not real pretty but they sure are durable.  Of course it’s probably a little overkill in that the neighborhood hasn’t experienced any rocket or mortar attacks probably since John C. Fremont made his ride from Sacramento to Monterey.  I actually do think a canon or two was fired around Alviso but it wasn’t much of a battle.  Gee, how did I get off on that tangent! 

We finally moved into our new office space.  This space used to be the king’s bedroom when Iraq had a king.  It’s unbelievable that there are 63 palaces in this country.  It’s just amazing how the luxury is placed into these edifices but the outsides look very similar and have a limestone brown appearance to them.  We moved all of our files, computer systems, guns, equipment, etc.  There’s a little more space for Investigations so we are happy with the move.  It also gets us away from the upper agency echelon which is just fine with me. 

We were having a philosophical discussion concerning the Iraqis and the dilemma in this country.  Here they are authorized to have an AK-47 in their residence but they are forbidden to take it outdoors.  They have insurgents and street thugs controlling the streets as they care less about running around with AK-47’s, explosives, or whatever else they want to carry.  If the citizenry try to take action against these street hoodlums from their residence, the bad guys just locate their residences and put a RPG in it.  We feel that there is a lot of similarity between this scenario and when the mafia was controlling the streets of Chicago and Cicero and they controlled the local authorities.  Either the police or the military is going to take control of this country or the people will get fed up and you’ll see vigilante action.  I think it’s only a matter of time.  Of course with vigilante action, innocent people can be hurt or killed. 

It’s amazing to watch the news media continually provide nothing but negative stories about this country.  I would be naпve to say there aren’t some major hot spots but there are also parts that are running fairly smoothly.  Of course those smooth running places are the same spots where people are very alert about anyone new or strange coming into their area and, when they do, the authorities are contacted and they do something about it.  I’m primarily referencing the Kurdish areas which seem to have little trouble. 

I’m convinced that the newsies don’t want to see the big picture of what can happen here.  If Iraq falls into civil war and the Sunni’s start getting whacked, you need to remember that there is a lot of this tribe in the neighboring countries who may be inclined to step in.  Another thing to consider is Iran.  Iran is a major exporter of oil and Iraq has about the third largest oil reserves in the world.  Can you see the pattern on that one?  Yet another thing to consider is the insurgency movement.  If the coalition forces moved out tomorrow, do you really think that Al Qaeda or other factions would be satisfied, go home, and leave the rest of the world alone?  Not hardly.  It would just give them a firmer base.  Now let me throw another spin into this.  If any of the above were to happen, do you think Israel is just going to sit by and just let this thing grow and grow?  I think not and I don’t think Israel will be compassionate and/or selective.  Of course after what the Jewish people have been through in the past, I can understand why they have a harsh view of things. 

Please excuse me for being on a political tirade.  I was talking with a few of the workers here.  One of the young janitors speaks English.  He was talking about some Saddam supporters in Fallajuh that were featured protesting claiming to want Saddam back.  He was pointing out these people and asking why they supported Saddam so much.  I answered him with the question, were these people wealthy and enjoyed a lot under Saddam.  He replied that they did.  I then asked are they still enjoying those benefits.  He said no.  I said then you can understand why they want him back.  His eyes grew in understanding.  The more I’m around the common Iraqi the more I see a populous that just wants to be free, be able to earn a living, and live. 

We are having our emergency drill sometime tomorrow.  That’ll be a lot of fun.  I have to check on my trailer mate.  I came in with this guy and he’s been a great person to share the trailer and common bathroom.  He was running today and got a hernia.  Now understand we have a great trauma center but that’s about it.  They showed him how to pop it back in and said he needs to get back to the states and get it taken care of.  Consequently, he’ll be leaving soon. 

I’ve sure been thinking a lot about hunting.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get in the woods a little bit on my return trip but it’ll be luck if it happens.  We seem to be over the dust season.  There hasn’t been a dust storm in weeks and I hope it stays that way.  The nights are getting a little cooler.  Understand I didn’t say cold, I said cooler.  It’s still in the mid 110’s during the day time.  I can break a sweat going from the palace back to my hootch every time.  The bathroom is still hot as ever.  When you go to shower, the water that comes out of the cold tap is hot enough to bathe immediately. 

I cleaned out my hootch on Friday.  You would not believe the dirt on the floor.  I mean it looks like I took a shovel full of fine dirt and threw it in there. 

I met up with a family friend here in Iraq.  We are good friends and the husband is a retired Marine Corp Colonel.  He was here in Desert Storm and now he’s a consultant.  It was great meeting up with him today.  I’m hoping that we can have dinner a few times before he departs.  He’s part of a team assigned to a general performing military reviews.  That’s a real good thing as he can get a helicopter ride wherever he needs to go.  We can get on one for official business but we need to jump through hoops to get on it. 

Well, that’s all for this letter.  Hopefully next time I’ll have more news on the return trip.  Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers and thank you for those who send e- mails.  It’s always nice to hear from home.  Best regards.  Bob

News From Iraq VII

Iraq Update 8/21/05

Greetings to all from the IZ in Iraq. Wow! What a week this has been.  The last time I wrote I thought at this time I would be winging my way home for some training and some much needed rest.  I was preparing all of my work to be up to date, my laundry all cleaned, and my hootch looking….. well, about as good as a hootch can look under the circumstances.  I had all of my plane reservations booked, my MilAir arrangements made (that’s Military Air but I’m sure you all figured that one out), and I was set to be on the Rino (the up armored bus) out of here on Friday night.  Well, we had a briefing with The Inspector General who is in town.  He decided that there was an insufficient number of special agents in theater and my training and leave were summarily cancelled.  Needless to say I wasn’t real pleased.  This training is being offered only once this year and I really had my hopes up to see my family again and sleep in a real bed with a real mattress --- not just a 6 inch piece of foam mattress. 

As it turned out, I’m still here although my supervisor and his boss have said I can re-schedule training.  On the bright side, I was able to attend our monthly firearms training which was held at the Baghdad Police Academy.  There is a tremendous range there but you have to go through the Red Zone to get there.  The ride is always interesting.  Once I figure out how to turn my camera to video, I’ll try and tape the ride.  The stills don’t do it justice.  I have to admit my mind wasn’t totally focused on my shooting so I didn’t hold the tight groups that I normally achieve.  I did get some practice in with my M-4 and feel much more comfortable with it than when it was first issued to me.  One of the fellows that I know who is with Department of State International Narcotic Liaison (and who is instrumental in getting us access to the range) brought out an old Russian AK-47 and a English Sterling which is a 9mm submachine gun.  Our boss was having a ball with the AK. The Sterling is an interesting piece and is the successor of the British Sten Gun that was assigned to British Commandos during WW II.  This acquaintance is quite a guy.  He was raised in Kenya, presently resides in Florida, is a certified public accountant, and worked for Price WaterHouse Coopers before taking the position that he has.  He is as comfortable discussing audit issues as he is discussing any type of firearms.  Quite a combination wouldn’t you say?

One of my counterpart special agents came up with a great line after seeing more of Baghdad’s finest spots and talking with some of the Pakistani employees that are here.  He said “when we were born in the United States, we hit the lotto.”  No truer words were ever spoken and I discovered more this week that corroborates that statement so well.  I think a few updates back I mentioned that one of our guys, Chris, is about 6’8” and tips the scale at close to 400 lbs.  The Pakistani cooks and waiters were calling him Big Show after a professional wrestler.  We were talking with one Pakistani gentleman who was just elated to have his picture taken with Big Show.  We learned that this fellow is a college graduate and is also a school teacher.  Now I know he is literate in at least two languages, one being English.  Here he is waiting on tables and serving food with a college degree as he can make more money for his family.  His father died when he was two years old.  I know school teachers in the U.S. don’t make much but I just can’t imagine someone with that much education having to wait tables.  We also met some Iraqi construction workers that are paid $10 per day.  We were informed that certain contractors promise these Iraqis $10 per day and then only pay them $6 per day.  People like that just make me sick especially if they are from the U.S.  These workers don’t have much and to take anything away from them that means so much to them and their families is just a crime.  I look forward to hammering someone for doing that.  Also, it’s amazing that even in the better parts of Baghdad, it is still very harsh looking.  All of the houses look the same no matter how well maintained they may be.  They all look like tiny fortresses with T walls or sand bags.  To think that someone would have to spend an entire lifetime here putting up with that is enough to get one really depressed.  All I can say is thank God I was born in the USA and I can go back.  There is no place better.

The reason why I got more insight into Baghdad was that I got my first opportunity to ride on a Blackhawk Helicopter.  The ride was really smooth.  Of course, no one was throwing any metal debris at us so evasive actions were not taken.  I tried to get some pictures from the air but it’s a little tougher when opportunities are flying past you quickly.  The Blackhawk flies only about 250-300 feet off the ground.  They fly fast and low which makes them a really tough target.  It’s really great because the windows are removed due to the hot weather.  There’s only one problem with taking the Helo.  Once you get where you are going, you don’t have transportation except walking.  When you have a flak vest, a helmet, a pack, a gun (and sometimes two) plus ammo, and case documents, that can really be a load especially when the temperature hovers around 115+.  Fortunately everything in the IZ is really close together but in the forward operating bases (FOB), things are really spread out.  It’s a bit of a challenge but nothing that can’t be overcome.

I had to go to a FOB for an interview of a contractor.  The contractor was a great guy.  He’s a special forces 3rd class warrant officer who is still in the reserves but he’s managing construction operations over here with a company comprised of former special forces personnel. I’ve met an associate of his who is equally as nice.  This contractor has his 19 year old son here with him who is working beside him.  His son had a full ride scholarship to a well known Southern university as a field goal kicker.  Apparently, this kid has one heck of a toe.  However, during his first semester, he falls in love (or should I say lust) with a Miss Southern States Hooters or some derivation.  Needless to say he flunks out of school and there goes his scholarship.  Well, his father decides a little Iraqi therapy wouldn’t hurt him.  Of course, his mother wasn’t too keen but finally acquiesced.  I spent about 30 minutes talking with this young man.  To say his eyes have been opened is an understatement.  He has seen what the Iraqis are going through just to try to make a living, to put food on the table, and care for their families let alone try to bring some freedom and order to their country.  He has been here six weeks and has probably matured 4 years.  He is talking about returning home and picking up his football career again and doing some real studying this time.  You can tell that working and living closely with his Dad (they share a hootch) has been rewarding for both of them.   One of the instances that just happened with this young man right before I arrived at the construction sight to meet him is that they were digging a trench to install a septic tank.  He uncovered about 4 Iraqi military identification tags and what was left of a gas mask.  He was fairly sure if he dug further he would find what remained of these soldiers.  Given the condition of the items found, they had been in the ground substantially longer than a few years.  They may have related to the Iran Iraq War or they could have been victims of punishment in Saddam’s Army.  We’ll never know but you could tell the young man wasn’t pleased at uncovering these items.  There is a lot of brutality in this part of the world and as my Dad has always said “life is cheap there.”

I met several new Italian soldiers this week.  While I was on the FOB, I sat down to lunch with one Italian soldier.  I spoke to him in Italian and he responded right away.  Then he looked at my identification and I could see the puzzling look on his face.  His next question was where in Italy was I born.  I felt pleased that my Italian was good enough for him to ask that question.  Also I rode the Blackhawk back with an Italian General and his bodyguard.  I should have spoken to him more but he seemed too busy in his conversation with some U.S. Army “Brass.”  I didn’t want to interrupt just to say Boun Giorno!   

We are losing yet another member of our beloved choir.  He is a guitar player and he is returning home to be with his young family and to take a new job where he will be assisting soldiers re-adjusting to civilian life.  Our choir is losing people rapidly.  We did get one new singer but we will definitely need more. 

Well, it’s about time that I wrap this up.  It’s getting late and I’m beat.  We’ll see if next week, I’ll be able to get some training approved and re-schedule everything.  Until then, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. 

Oh by the way, I know that some of you have been asking what can be done to help here with the orphanages.  One lady that I’ve met is Noha Al-Agha.  She assists with an orphanage.  Although they can always use money, it is very difficult for them to negotiate checks and I would not recommend sending cash under any circumstances.  The checks have to be delivered to Jordan for processing.  The best thing to do is to send materials.  These could be blankets, jackets, school supplies, girls and boys clothing, children’s aspirin, toiletries, etc.  They have children from infants all the way up to mid teens.  Although the summers are very hot here (they are down right sweltering), the winters are cold, i.e. it does get down to freezing at night.  Also, the Chaplains Office here coordinates with several different orphanages so there are several ways of distributing goods.  You can send anything you may wish to contribute to

Special Agent Robert Gorini

Office of Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

Embassy Annex, Room M202,

APO AE 09316.

PS:  Sorry this is late but on Sunday night I really got sick.  I was in no condition to edit this or do any other work.  I think I’m on the mend but I know I’m not 100% yet.  Hopefully I’ll get better soon.   

News From Iraq VI

Iraq Update 8/13/05

Greetings all and I hope all are doing well. 

I know that some of you reading this are aware of several close friends who have passed on during this past week.  Even though the deceased lived good fulfilling lives, it’s still never a good time to lose someone.  My prayers are with them. 

Well, this week was something else weather wise.  We experienced a dust storm that kept our boss grounded in Amman, Jordan for almost the entire week.  The airport was literally shut down and the helo’s weren’t flying at all.  At 9:30 A.M. the sky was orange colored and the visibility was about 50 feet.  It was so bad you couldn’t see across the street and the shuttle busses were even grounded due to poor visibility.  Anytime I went out, I had to have a kerchief around my mouth and nose.  Everyone was wearing something of that nature.  I sent a picture to Rachel and maybe she’ll forward on with the message.  I’ll ask her to do it.  Quite frankly, I don’t see how these computers continue to operate under these conditions.  This palace is definitely not air tight and the dust is just horrendous.  Actually the dust storm was almost like a snow storm only dirty and hot.  You leave foot prints when you walked and tires tracks where the vehicles drove on the road.  The dust is so bad you can actually taste it and it just doesn’t go away.

We lost one of our choir members who returned to the States on Tuesday.  He was great as he writes his own songs.  Some people are just that talented.  He knows chords but can’t read a note of music although he plays both guitar and piano.  Some of his church songs are really good so we continue to use them in mass and before mass.  We are losing one of our female singers who is transferring to London with the State Department.  I told her she’s probably safer here.  However, she’s been here for almost two years and I think the confinement is getting to her.  It’s amazing how that impacts you.  Five square miles sounds like a lot of but it isn’t.  We are also losing one of our guitar players and our flutist in October.  However both of these soldiers have little ones at home and they’ve done their duty and need to raise their families. 

You know last week I spoke of the issue of the bad guys being able to penetrate the security of the Iraqi ministers and that we were wondering how that could happen.  Well, this week the Inspector General for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense was accidentally shot by one of her own security personnel.  We can only imagine what is going on.  It reminds me of a trip to the Red Zone where we passed an Iraqi manned check point and one of the sentry’s has his AK-47 apart cleaning it.  Now if anything goes wrong, he’s only got pieces of metal and wood to throw at somebody.  Now I know they are really trying hard to train these guys but I was told they had trouble disciplining these guys not to leave their posts just because a street vendor came by with articles they wanted to acquire.  I understand a little better what we are dealing with at times.

Oh I forgot to mention one of the other female choir members was in a convoy that took a hit.  I had heard that a convoy had been attacked and that one of the escort humvees noticed a suicide bomber aiming for one of the SUV’s.  The soldiers intercepted the guy but not before he detonated the explosives.  I saw our choir member, Mary, that afternoon.  I could tell she looked different.  She came up to me and hugged me and then told me what had happened.  It really hits home when you come in contact with someone who experiences something like that upfront and not 100 yards + away.  I also learned that another acquaintance of mine was in the convoy as well.  The machine gunner on the humvee didn’t survive the blast.  Then I learned that his brother was riding in one of the other vehicles behind the humvee.  It took some time to get him to the point where they could continue because they have to get the convoy out of the kill zone because another bomber could be waiting.  Made me think of Ben Stein’s article all over again.  Then today after mass I learned from one of my military friends on the choir that the machine gun on the humvee that was bombed was not in a cocked and locked position.  I was just sick to hear about that.  Such an error can be so egregious at the wrong time.  I’m sure the training is to travel cocked and locked and so when things turn upside down one reverts to training, aims in, and fires.  It would be at least a few seconds before the gunner could react and charge the weapon.  Unfortunately those few seconds may have made the difference between whacking the bomber and taking a hit.  I understand the “brass” is considering putting the soldiers in the intercepting humvee in for silver stars.  I couldn’t agree more when they place themselves directly in harms way to save others. 

The other thing that happened this week that kind of made me mad was when a Personal Security Team entered into the palace grounds driving like maniacs.  Now you need to understand that to get onto the palace grounds with a vehicle, you must pass through three check points including one where a bomb sniffing dog goes through your stuff.  The last check point has huge metal gates that a tank couldn’t get through.  Once they get in, there really isn’t too far to go.  Well, this team comes in with their wigwag lights going, blue lights going, and driving up to the palace like a bunch of cowboys being chased by the Indians (Native Americans for the PC people) into a fort.  We are walking out at the same time and they get so close to us, they bumped me and another agent with the vehicles rear view mirror.  Like I’ve said before, our agents are all retired federal law enforcement and several have served on SWAT teams and we all got pretty vocal about these guys and their conduct.  We didn’t hear a lot of back talk.  These guys are primarily former military, both US and foreign, who are working for private security firms.  They have little accountability and no oversight.  It’s just rather obvious that some of them really think they are the true Rambo’s of the world.  I just wish they’d take it elsewhere.  The real good security personnel do not conduct themselves in this manner. 

I had a real comical incident happen this week as well.  The new dining facility opened (called a DFAC, you can figure out the acronym).  It’s small, hot, and noisy.  We all preferred dining in the palace but somebody had other plans for the room.  Anyway, I’m seated in one of these new aluminum chairs and this Australian soldier about my age or just a little younger is sitting in back of me.  I went to get up about the same time he did.  I don’t know if his holster got caught on the chair or what but one second his thigh holster is connected and the next second the whole thing (holster, belt, magazine holders) is falling off.  I barely grabbed the belt before everything fell to the floor and tripped him.  He didn’t even realize it happened until I said something.  It almost looked like it was planned sort of like when a clown pulls on a flower and his trousers drop.  His friends (mates) were laughing uncontrollably as it really looked pretty funny. 

Well, I’m closing for the evening.  It’s almost 9:30 P.M. or 21:30 and I like to unwind a little before falling asleep.  I am still on schedule to return state side towards the end of next week.  I will try to get another letter out before hand but no promises.  It may have to wait until I actually get state side.  Getting out of Baghdad is a minimum three day process and it is not fun at all. 

Take care and my best to all.  Bob

News From Iraq V

Iraq Update August 6, 2005

Greetings All

I hope everyone and their families are doing fine.  All is going fairly well here.  I’m actually the Acting Special Agent in Charge for SIGIR Baghdad and I anxiously await the return of the real boss.  Honestly, after 17 + years in management, I’m not crazy about undertaking such a position on a full time basis. 

This week I had to deal with construction going on in the office while we are trying to work.  If you can imagine we are a little cramped as it is.  However, when you add in about 7-9 additional workers who are moving things around, drilling holes in the concrete walls, and just getting dust and dirt all over everything, to say it was fraying people’s nerves was an understatement.  It’s really quite comical.  We have space that is already built out for us, the wiring is set, and the furniture is in.  However, we can’t move into it because we need a switch to hook us up to the main server.  The same people doing the rewiring are responsible for installing the switch.  When I asked why they couldn’t install the switch first and then do the build out after we move, I was told that they have to do the work in the order that the request was received.  I said but we requested both jobs.  He said it still doesn’t matter.  Like I said, you just have to laugh at the logic.

It’s also pretty interesting listening to the Iraqi electricians yelling at each other and arguing about how to wire things.  Of course at the same time we are supposed to be focusing on our work. 

This week has been a real challenge for me to tolerate the water condition.  Now I’m thankful that we have things pretty good considering this is a war zone.  But at least three times this week, my shower consisted of a trickle of water.  And I mean just a trickle.  It took effort to get the soap off my carcass.  My trailer mate has resorted to having a few bottles of drinking water maintained at room temperature to douse himself if need be.  His hair is a lot longer than mine so I can understand why. 

We had a series of assassinations this week and it got the agents to wondering.  These assassinations are not being done long range or with explosives.  People are getting up close and personal and dispatching their victims with small arms fire.  The question we have is how are these guys getting so close to the targets?  We can only imagine that the security team is either really lax or the bad guys have found ways to breach security.  One of our agents has done a lot of work in Colombia and he said with the exception of bombings, the rebels played hell trying to get close to a general or a political figure.  We wonder why it’s so different here? 

The other night I and another agent had dinner with a gentleman and two ladies from England who were advisors to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.  It was pretty funny in that their accents were so heavy it was difficult to understand fully what they were saying.  All I can compare it to was like listening to dialogue from My Fair Lady.  When I asked one lady to repeat what she had said, her voice got louder and her accent was even more pronounced.  When we got back to the office, the other agent said to me, Isn’t it amazing that we all spoke English and we hardly could understand them.  I replied that they may not have agreed with the statement.  They probably thought they spoke English and we speak American. 

We have an employee who is the Human Resources Director who’s been on detail for the last 45 days.  He’s been a lot of fun to work with and has helped us out quite a bit.  Now this guy is not little.  Chris goes about 6 foot 8 inches and is closer to 400 pounds than he is 300 pounds.  Now I don’t know how many of you follow World Class Wrestling but there’s a wrestler whose name is BIG SHOW that bears an uncanny resemblance to Chris.  There is a contingent of Pakistanis that work in the cafeteria who must be wrestling enthusiasts as when they see Chris, they start calling him Big Show and said he looks just like the wrestler.  It’s quite funny as they raise quite a commotion over it.  They ask Chris if the wrestling is for real and want to know if he is a wrestler. 

I also had breakfast with a JAG and his legal assistant who were assigned to Forward Operating Base Victory this week.  The legal assistant was a very nice young lady about 25 years old and the JAG was definitely a legal beagle.  I noticed that the legal assistant had something on the end of the barrel of her M-16.  I asked her about it.  She had constructed a protective cover over the muzzle break of her rifle that would automatically blow off once the weapon is discharged.  She said she had it to keep the dust out of her barrel and out of her action.  I complimented her on her care and concern over her weapon and asked if she appreciated the shooting sports.  She said she did not which made me even more complimentary of her care for someone who isn’t a gun freak like yours truly.  She kind of beamed with pride over the compliments.  The JAG seemed a little perturbed at the compliments but when he stood up to leave, his body armored, helmet, and rifle that he draped over the chair all fell over and clanged to the floor.  This made him even more annoyed so I didn’t say anything further except to have a nice day and a safe trip back to Camp Victory and to make sure to get to the range and re-sight his rifle.  Of course I told him I was with the Inspector General’s Office and hoped our paths would cross again.  I’m sure that’s the last thing he’d want. 

I was really feeling bad about the loss of life this week here in Iraq especially with the Marine Reservists from Ohio who lost about 22 from their unit.  It really is painful to realize that it is a loss of very young lives with a huge amount of future ahead of them and I wonder about the worth and if most people really care and understand the sacrifice that they’ve made.  It’s amazing the way the Lord can work when you feel you need a pick me up.  I was presented with an article today that I’d like to transcribe here.  I’d scan it but I’m afraid it won’t go through.  I do ask that you take the time to read it and I hope more people see the real message being sent here.  Once I read this, I got a little teary eyed for awhile but then got back to my work with new resolve.   

Here Goes!

Ben Stein’s Last Column:

How Can Someone Who Lives In Insane Luxury Be A Star In Today’s World?

As I begin to write this, I slug it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it.  This heading is eonlinefinal and it gives me a shiver to write it.  I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started.  I loved writing this column so much for so long I can to believe it would never end.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world’s change have overtaken it.  On a small scale, Morton’s, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to.  It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars.  I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie.  But Morton’s is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again. 

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened.  I no longer think Hollywood starts are terribly important.  They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better that I deserve to be treated.  Bu a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to. 

How can a man or woman who makes an eight figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today’s world, if by a star we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model?  Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yogas or Pilates and eating only raw fruits while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.  They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.  A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq.  He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets.  Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad.  He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him. 

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station.  He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded.  He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad. 

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists. 

We put couples with incomes of $100 M a year on the covers of our magazines.  The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die. 

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton’s is a big subject. 

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament …. The policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards. 

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.  Now you have an idea of a real hero. 

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters.  This is my highest and best use as a human.  I can put it another way.  Years ago, I realized I could never be as great as actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin… or Martin Mull or Fred Willard…or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald.  Or even remotely close to any of them.  But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me.  This came to be my main task in life.  I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister’s help).  I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years.  I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms. 

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York.  I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others he has placed in my path.  This is my highest and best use as a human.

Faith is not believing that God can.  It is knowing that God will.  By Ben Stein

I did not know of Ben Stein before reading this.  I know not if he is liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, hard rocker or swing band.  It really doesn’t matter as here he speaks from the heart.

Bravo Ben Stein.

God Bless All - Bob

News From Iraq IV

Iraq Update 7/29/05

Hi All:

Excuse the delay in getting this out.  I had to skip a week as my family was on vacation so Rachel couldn’t forward the correspondence.  I don’t have a lot of new stuff as I have been confined to the office as I’m acting for the boss while he is in the United States.  He’s coming back at the beginning of August and I’ll be happy to see him come back.  After over 17 years of management, I really don’t want to get back into it full time. 

This week I had a very heart warming experience.  Our translator, Noha, and I were speaking about families and I was telling her about my two daughters and my wife.  Noha thanks me for making the sacrifice to come over here and liberate them from Saddam Hussein’s regime and for helping them in the reconstruction.  Now Noha and her family are not exactly poor but she gave as an example that since the Iraq/Iran war they have had continuous power outages and have been totally restrictive in movement.  For example under Saddam’s regime, women under the age of 48 are forbidden to go anywhere alone or without any male accompaniment.  She was able to travel out of the country only because of foreign property ownership or else she would not be able to see her family that live elsewhere.  Noha said, Iraq used to be a wonderful democratic country but Saddam did away with it all.  That pretty much says it all.  Iraq had a self sustaining economy and great natural resources but through complacency, the people allowed themselves to be ruled by 20% of the population.  My experience with Noha teaches me that no truer words were ever spoken that the “price of freedom is constant vigilance.”  I will never believe the words “it can’t happen here” ever again. 

The above was the good part.  The bad part was that we had a translator who was taking advantage of his position and, as a result, was causing a potential security breach.  Initially he was hostile when confronted with the issues and I thought there might be some major trouble.  However, things became calm especially when he was confronted with the evidence then all he wanted to do was depart in a peaceful manner.  His id badge was pulled and he was escorted from the compound.  It made for a tense moment or two.  It just must be human nature for one to want to take advantage of something if the opportunity presents itself.

The other night we had a unique experience.  After a rather bad dust storm, the choppers were flying.  Now typically when the choppers come in for a landing, they set off flares.  The flares are to deflect heat seeking rockets etc.  Well the choppers came in so low that the flares landed on some of the palm trees in our trailer complexes and caught them on fire.  We have the Baghdad Fire Department which is manned by fire personnel from the States.  I learned that the palm trees actually have a sap that is very volatile and this kept the trees burning.  The fire department put the fires out but it made for some interesting moments and some pigeons and doves are running around with singed feathers. 

I had a meeting with a financial minister from an Iraqi Ministry.  She was extremely nice and very articulate in English.  It was very interesting to speak with her and she is being very helpful on one of our investigations.  The gold they have here is really rich colored stuff.  I believe it’s 21 or 23 carat.  It kinda hard to shop given the volatility and the fact that if one ventures into the red zone for other than official business, you are out – no excuses.

I know a lot of you are still wondering what the heck I’m doing over here.  I forwarded a Wall Street Journal article on our Inspector General, Stuart Bowen to Rachel who will forward it to you all.  The article details to some degree the work we are trying to do here.  My only regret is that we weren’t empowered to do this as soon as this country was secured before the money flow started. 

  I was able to work with some U.S. Army Special Forces this week on a matter of mutual interest.  These guys had experience in South America, other Middle East, and other hot spots.  There were very interesting to speak with.  It’s amazing how unassuming they are.  If you crossed them on a street in America you wouldn’t give them a second look and you definitely would not consider them to be SF.  They look like they should be mowing a front lawn in suburban area.  They don’t look like the Rangers, the Seals, or Diplomatic Security personnel all brawn, muscle, and heavy weapons.   However, I wouldn’t want them after me.  As it turned out we had information about some weapons being purchased that were not being stored properly.  We were able to tie down the acquisition and actually found the weapon site.  It definitely isn’t secured properly but these are not U.S. arms or U.S. money but at least the information is in the right hands.  I definitely don’t want to hold info on something that could be used against our troops.

You should hear me trying to talk Arabic with some of the workers.  They really get a kick out of my attempt to pronounce the words.  It’s really tough to make some of these sounds.  Some sound like you’re trying to clear your throat. 

Oh I’ve got to end this with our lovely Alice on the rampage again over the PX inventory.  You remember I wrote to you about Alice, the Army CID retiree, who couldn’t get shampoo but could find lady’s thong underwear.  Well, she comes back from the PX steaming mad again today.  It’s 118.  She says she still can’t get any shampoo but the PX is loaded with two kinds of bubble bath.  Unfortunately, there aren’t any bath tubs in the entire International Zone except for the medical tubs at the hospital emergency room.  She is just livid that they would even place the bubble bath out on display.  Again, it’s good for a laugh. 

We had a list passed around today in the office asking what dessert we were missing the most while here in Iraq.  The employees were putting down banana splits, fresh strawberries, etc.  I wrote down “Sex.”  I figured they serve us cookies, ice cream, cake, and sometimes flan at two meals a day, who needs more sweets than that?  What’s not happening here for me??  You got it!!!  However, at my age, I can tough it out.  I just double my time at the gym.

Ya’ll have a great week and we should be back in sync with Rachel returning from vacation.  Take care and thank you again for all of your thoughts, good wishes, and prayers.

News from Iraq III

Hello to all:

Hope all are doing well on the home front and are enjoying the wonderful hot summer weather.  A little warm back there you say?  Well, right now it’s cooled off from a high of 125 today to about 115.  I’m told August will be worse.  It amazing.  You walk about 100 yards and you break a major sweat. 

Last night we went to dinner at a restaurant called the Blue Star that’s in the Green Zone.  The place is just a little more than a glorified tent that’s air conditioned and is surrounded by sand bags.  It’s neat because you get to watch the choppers fly in just over head and I do mean just overhead.  When you can see the side gunner’s faces distinctly, you know that’s close.  But look at it on the bright side, where can you go in the United States and get genuine Iraqi food, beer brewed in Turkey, wine from Lebanon, and a Hookah pipe if you want it in a tent surrounded by sand bags? 

This week has been predominantly filled with laughter primarily directed at ourselves and our situation but we continue to have somber moments. 

We did experience a couple of bombings but casualties were surprisingly light.  The most significant one was a car bomb that went off at one of the check points.  The car bomb was followed by another bomber who detonated himself.  There was a third bomber but he stood so close to the #2 guy that his side was paralyzed upon the concussion and he couldn’t hit the plunger although he was trying.  Security shot him but he’ll live.  Fr. Dennis told us that three soldiers were badly injured and one was standing five feet from the car when it detonated.  All three have survived and will make good recoveries.  As Fr. said “miracles do happen.”  The only thing that I can think of is that the detonation knocked the soldier down on the ground and the shrapnel blast went over the top of him.

This week I got to see what $83M in cash looks like.  That’s a lot of paper.  I got to see Saddam’s Lladro collection, his assortment of canes and swords and I got to hold his gold plated AK-47 and his personal rocket propelled grenade launcher.  I have to admit except for the Lladro’s, a lot of his stuff is really gaudy and not exactly artistic in nature.  For example, you would have thought that he would have his AK with metal scrolling on it like the fancy double barreled rifles from England.  It’s just plain gold plated.  A lot of the walking canes all had pikes on the end or were hidden swords.  One was actually a rifle.  When I told the Lieutenant in the Comptroller’s Office (who has custody of the vault) that rifle canes were made in the US around the turn of the century, she was surprised.  It was quite the thing back in the late 1890’s and 1900’s. 

I met a couple of Italian Carabinieri’s at lunch this week and was talking about food.  They are assigned security for the Italian Ambassador.  They said they were going to have a pizza party and would invite us.  The Italian Embassy Compound has a wood fired oven on the premises.  He said the pizza comes out wonderful.  I can’t wait. 

We had a great time at mass today.  Our choir is a mix of soldiers, law enforcement, and state department personnel.  One of the state department people is a lady who is a consul for the Department of State.  She has a wonderful voice and for the most part is a reserved legal type.  Just before communion is about to get underway, she leans over and whispers to me that all of the Eucharist Ministers are packing heat.  What’s funny is that this is coming from her.  I responded that so is half the choir and 90% of the congregation.  Fr. says he must keep his sermons short and to the point for the same reason lest someone gets an itchy finger.  Fr. keeps saying he gets many compliments about the choir which is great.  We are going to lose a few due to rotations in their schedules.  Hopefully new ones will come along.  The other thing that was funny was when this same State Department lady went to retrieve music from her backpack I couldn’t help notice that she had two rolls of toilet paper in there.  I couldn’t help but comment that I thought that was a lot of t/p and she must really be on the go.  She replied that the toilet paper in the rest rooms is crap.  I said I really hadn’t noticed any different.  She busts out laughing as did the rest of the choir and said that it was obvious I wasn’t a woman.  I replied not even on my best day.  God what a thought!

We went to the range this week so I finally got my M-4 tuned up and working for me.  Our M-4’s are equipped with an electronic sight in addition to the iron sights.  My electronic sight was pretty much right on but my iron sights were all messed up.  Our range officer asked if I was going to use my electronic sight.  I said I wanted to sight in both.  I said I didn’t want any issues if the battery on my electronic sight died at the wrong time.  The range time could not have been better.  On Wednesday we got a respite from the heat, only in the low 100’s and there was no dust.  One of our agents is a former New Jersey homicide detective who then finished his career as an Inspector General with the State Department.  He is presently our boss while the real boss is back in D.C.  He always uses this expression, WHAT COULD GO WRONG??  Well, with him at the range this week almost everything.  We did this practical exercise where we drilled as if our vehicle was incapacitated and then we were under enemy fire.  The drill was to drive the vehicle, stop, exit the vehicle on the opposite side of the danger, and then shoot the bad guy targets which were interspersed with good guy targets down range.  Well, Mike is driving, he pulls up and looks like he threw the car in park but it was just in reverse.  He bails out of the car and the second agent is trying to get out while the car is going backwards.  At first we thought it was in neutral but its gathering speed while the second agent is caught between the console and the driver’s side.  We start yelling and Mike halfway gets back in to stop the car.  Both agents exit and Mike takes a position behind the hood of the car and starts firing down range with his M-4.  After the drill is over we are still laughing about the car being in reverse and then notice that there’s a bullet hole in the hood of the car right in front of where Mike was positioned.  Unfortunately, Mike had rested his rifle on the hood but was shooting down hill.  His sights cleared but the barrel didn’t.  Now we had two things to laugh and tease him about.  We checked the car to make sure he didn’t damage anything important, like the radiator, and found it to be okay.  If we were in the US, there’d be paperwork to write but here it wouldn’t be the only car with a few holes in it.  Finally, the coups de grace comes.  While the other agents are going through the drill, Mike is scrounging around and finds a .223 round in the dirt.  He dusts it off and is able to remove the cartridge from the casing.  He empties the powder out of it and replaces the bullet.  Then he grabs the range officer’s M-4 by mistake, chambers the round, and fires it with only the primer for ignition.  He gets the bullet stuck in the barrel.  In the meantime we’ve finished the drill and Mike is telling the range officer while we are listening about what he did.  Now you have to picture Mike who is about 6’2”, maybe 235 lbs, telling this story like a kid who did something bad with his father’s tools.  You’ve got to know our range officer.  He likes firearms more than I do and he takes a lot of pride in maintaining his equipment.  He resembles G. Gordon Liddy and keeps asking Mike – You did this

By now, we just can’t take it and are laughing uncontrollably at this.  First he can’t get the car in park, he shoots the hood, and then he gets a bullet stuck in the range officer’s rifle.  We kept saying WHAT COULD GO WRONG!!!  Mike is leaving in another week so we are going to give him the first Inspector General WHAT COULD GO WRONG award as a going away present. 

I guess the other thing that happened this week that was pretty unique was one major dust storm on Thursday.  I mean this dust was so thick that it resembled fog in San Francisco.  I was up at 5:30 A.M. on Thursday morning and it was clear but by 7:00 A.M., the dust was really settling in.  By mid afternoon, it was actually coming into the buildings as well.  I understand that they are even worse when you are out in the desert without buildings around. 

The last funny thing that happened involved our intelligence analyst.  She’s a retired U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division specialist.  Earlier this week, she went to the PX to buy some things.  Now our PX doesn’t have a lot of stuff and we think that the reason is that the majority of the soldiers are in the Forward Operating Bases so most of the supplies go there and it’s tough to get them here.  Alice ends up going to the PX and can’t find hair shampoo.  She comes back mad as a hornet and said the PX can’t keep items of necessity like deodorant and shampoo in stock but they have a huge supply of thong underwear.  She’s ranting whose going to be wearing that stuff with military BDUs and besides those things were certainly not going to fit her rear anyway.  It took us awhile to stop laughing. 

Laughter is a good thing and I’m glad that we had some good laughs this week.  The rest of my working time was devoted to records analysis so there’s not a lot of items that I can discuss although some of what I found I would like to comment on but that will have to wait until the matter is adjudicated. 

Well, good bye for now.  Thank you all again for the good words, thoughts, and prayers.  My best to you and your loved ones.  Bob

News from Iraq III

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

News from Iraq II

Iraq Update – 2 July 2005 (I thought I’d use the military version just to have a little fun.)

Here’s hoping all are well and first I want to wish all of the best 4th of July.  Take time to celebrate our freedoms.  There are so many in this world who do not have basic freedoms that are common place in our lives.  Our forefathers were so right when they wrote that we were born with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  A lot of this part of the world has no idea that such tenets even exist.   

I found out a little more about Iraq this week that I had no clue about.  One of our translators explained to me that in the last few weeks, 15 Iraqi barbers had been murdered by insurgents.  Their crimes were cutting hair in a manner not recognized as being true Muslim (at least from the insurgents’ point of view).  I became frustrated and asked why no one defends themselves against these blood thirsty idealists.  I use the term idealists and didn’t really convey my deep down feelings out of respect for some of those receiving this correspondence.  He told me that although Iraqi’s are authorized to own AK-47s, they are prohibited from taking them from their residences.  Consequently, when the insurgents do their work, their plan is to first ensure that police and military are not around (unless they are planning a bombing), then spray the area with gun fire to get people to run away, and then target their victims.  If someone works from their home, they just target the home with explosives and blow the whole place up.  Of course, this is extremely frustrating for these people but the good news is that more and more tips are coming in about the bad guys from the Iraqis so maybe the tide will change. 

Also, I met a young lady who works with US Immigration but is detailed to assist the Iraqi Immigration.  She is stationed in a town near the Kurdish border.  She informed us that they are free to shop around town, to visit the locals, to have field trips, and even go to the parks for picnics and BBQ.  Of course, we were all astounded as the IZ is literally an armed camp.  The main difference is the people there are very attuned to their environment and everybody knows everybody.  Consequently, when anyone strange comes to town, the authorities are right on them. 

I was able to get a better look at the Iraqi geography.  Rumor has it that the Garden of Eden was considered to be the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers.  It would make sense in that with the extremely warm climate and with an abundant supply of water, the ancestral people were probably able to raise all the food one would ever need.  Actually, Babylon now known as Al Hillah is about 50 miles south of Baghdad.  It would be nice to see the country near the ancient town of Ur, the home of Abraham but I may have to wait for another time.  Sight seeing is definitely not on the agenda for this job.

I went to church today.  Father Dennis was hilarious.  He put his robes on right over his Bermuda shorts and t shirt.  He said he didn’t feel like wearing his battle dress uniform.  Our choir still is growing.  We now have a second pianist.  However, I think our primary pianist is ready for R & R.  Since Father said it was OK to take pictures, I’m going to try and get a picture of the choir tomorrow and send it home. 

I’ve been noticing one soldier, a first sergeant, who works on our floor.  He’s 62 years old.  Apparently he was called back to active duty because he has a special skill.  I’ve seen him in the gym working out and he can lift as much as I can.  He’s always combat ready with his M-16 and has a great attitude.  He’s been serving as a Eucharistic Minister at church as well.  I’ve got to ask him how much time he has left.  I guess the Army can call you back but I didn’t think they could at that age. 

I must say I’ve got a great group of guys that I work with.  We’ve all got different strengths and skills.  I guess my computer skills are about the best of a lot of agents here.  That’s kinda scary because I really don’t consider myself a geek.  But they come to me for advice.  I’m also handling all of the payroll issues as well and help explain the leave and earnings statements for most.  We have one agent who is handling firearms training.  He is really a scream.  He looks like G. Gordon Liddy.  Our enforcement and tactical equipment is not maintained real well.  This last week, Dennis, the firearms trainer, got with a carpenter and scrounged enough scrap wood to build a gun cabinet.  I knew where there was an old wood box that contained AK-47s at one time.  I pointed it out to Dennis and before I knew it that became our ammo storage box.  Dennis was asking about firearms training and being able to shoot at a target hidden behind a car door.  I told him where the KBR junk heap was where they repair damaged cars.  The next thing I knew Dennis has got a car door secured for training.  All the guys laugh and joke with each other so it makes for a great atmosphere. 

Well, I think that’s about it for the week.  Keep these soldiers in your prayers.  We lost a few this week and I’ve seen that medic chopper flying in and out quite a bit.  It pains me every time I see it.  However, we must be doing OK in patching the soldiers up because we usually are told of fatal casualties through the Stars and Stripes News. 

I think I’ll go back to the hooch and kick back a little.  Tomorrow is another day and it will start early.  My best and Happy Birthday America to you all.  Bob