Mood:  hug me
Saddam and his sons had a series of palaces near the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), with the largest one now commonly referred to as the "Water Palace." Before the war began, Saddam built a wall around the palaces near the airport and stocked the area with lots of animals that he could easily hut. After he fell from power, Iraqi hunted down almost all the animals. However, no one has been able to catch Saddam's panthers. About a month ago one of my friends watched one of the panthers walk slowly past an Army checkpoint and into the dusty countryside.

And in other news . . . Last year the Pentagon estimated that there were 60 security firms operating in Iraq with about 20,000 employees; unfortunately, the US government did not have a good method for controlling their behavior.

I briefly lost my cell phone two weeks ago. It slipped out of my pocket as I was looking for pallets to throw onto a make-shift fire that we built in front of my house. After I realized that I was lost it, I flipped out. Into that phone, I had programmed the phone numbers of a number of Iraqis working for the Americans. I was petrified that someone would pass the phone and their phone numbers onto one of the bad guys.

Thankfully, a security guard from my compound found the phone. However, before he picked it up, he called in a bomb sniffing dog to make sure it wasn't a make-shift bomb.

Kidnappings have become commonplace in Iraq. According to the Brookings Institute, 249 non-Iraqis have been kidnapped from May 2003 through November 2005. Out of that group of 249 people, 43 were killed, 122 released, 3 escaped, 3 rescued, and the fate of 78 is unknown.

There are no reliable statistics for the number of Iraqis that had been kidnapped, but most people believe that a huge number of Iraqis have been kidnapped. Almost every Iraqi I know has a relative or friend that has dealt with kidnappers. In fact, two of my Iraqi coworkers had relatives that were recently kidnapped.

One of two coworkers was at work when she learned that her father had been kidnapped. When she received the phone call at work telling her what had happened, she screamed hysterically. Her family paid the ransom, and the kidnappers let him go. I don't think the kidnapping had anything to do with her decision to work for the Americans, but for some reason she has not returned to work even since it happened about two weeks ago.

The other coworker had two relatives kidnapped about a week ago. One relative was captured with ten other Iraqis who were working on for a western development agency; most people assume that the kidnappers will kill him. The other relative was kidnapped for money; after the family turned over $20,000, the kidnappers let him go.

Topic: Scary Stuff
I received a nice warning the other day from a security advisor who wrote that he did "not want to take on any chance here, please take note. A new brand of whiskey is on the market. [The bad guys] have entered GRAND WHISKEY to compete with top brands only this desert blend will not only scorch the back of you throat but will have you begging for a swift end. $70 will get you a case of 12 bottles laced with the finest rat poison and other ingredients designed to do you harm. DO NOT CONSUME and please pass on."

Foreigners living in Iraq, even those living inside the relatively safe Green zone, become so acclimatized to the violence that they would seem callous to people living in the outside world. For example, read the following routine email that I received a few days ago about the PX: "We will be running the shuttle to the PX and Palace. Since we only have 3 drivers working, please use the shuttle service whenever possible. They are expanding the PX, but the new 6000 sq ft section will not be open until the end of January. The shelves are somewhat empty now because the container truck bringing new merchandise was hit by an IED. The driver died from his injuries and the merchandise was lost. Thanks as always for your continued cooperation." That fact that someone died is a minor side note in this email.

Most technocrats in Iraq now want to find way for the Iraqis to take over the work (security, reconstruction, etc.) now performed by the occupying powers. However, that will be hard. The Americans are running out of funding for the reconstruction, and the American public is losing patience the Bush Administration’s rosy assessment of military’s plans for the war. With limited time left before the American adventure in Iraq begins scaling down, the ability to do something meaningful is diminishing.

I found a nifty report written by a think tank within the Army that concluded that "the empowerment of a viable Iraqi central government and a security force to defend its authority [is] vital to the future of that country, but also suggest that there are severe constraints on the potential for the United States to sustain its military presence in that country at the current level. They conclude that the United States must be prepared to withdraw from Iraq under non-optimal conditions and that the chief U.S. goals should be to devise an exit strategy for Iraq that focuses on bolstering Iraqi government legitimacy even if this does not involve creating a Western style democracy."

And in other news . . . the US Army is buying off local newspapers.

It is an odd feeling when you are the "old hand" after only 11 months. Although I have only been in Iraq for less than a year, I have spent more time in Iraq than about 90 percent of the people I know. In fact, I have more time in country than anyone else in three different departments on my compound.

According to one recent report sent to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Reconstruction (SIGIR), the current and former government officials have told auditors in Iraq that the rapid turnover of American officials in Iraq has slowed efforts to rebuild the country, disrupted key relationships with Iraqis and led to frequent and abrupt shifts in U.S. policy. I have seen countless examples where new people don't know anything about what was done in the past, and more importantly, they cannot obtain reliable information about why or even how things were done in the past.

Nevertheless, I have seen very little effort to fix this staffing problem. In fact, it has even gotten worse with many government employees feeling that the sacrifices they made in Iraq are not connected to any professional rewards.

And in other news . . . the ability of the Iraqi military still remains spotty at best.

I received a nice email a few days ago about what to do when the bad guys lob stuff at the Green Zone.

Everyone on my compound was reminded that "when you hear the duck & cover alarm or become aware of an indirect fire attack, you must take cover. If you are inside, get under a desk or table. If you are in your trailer, get under your bed or pull your mattress over you. If you are outside, move to a bunker. Stay under covered until instructed otherwise by the public address system."

Most people view attacks as a "hand of God" event because the odds of getting hit are so small and the ability of anyone to properly respond in time during an attack is also limited. The bad guys generally only lob a handful of rockets or mortar at a time, which makes it nearly impossible to get to a decent shelter before the attack end. Plus, most of the indirect fire targeted at the Green Zone are duds.

One of the most famous video clips of Saddam comes from his parade grounds between the Crossed Swords. From a massive grandstand above the parade grounds, he once proudly stood and then fired a shotgun with one hand. Now, anyone willing to enter the Green Zone can visit the grandstands overlooking the parade grounds and stand where Saddam once stood. When I went, I stood in the grandstands and looked down at a small group of Iraqi soldiers who clapped loudly when I waved at them.

And in other news, the "Coalition of the Willing," which according to American diplomats now includes those working for the United Nations in Iraq, currently includes approximately 21,500 troops. The "willing" countries include Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, el Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

While waiting to catch a helicopter ride back into the Green Zone, I watched two Spanish-speaking PSDs (mercenaries) attempting to get onto the same helicopter. They only spoke a handful of English words, but they still carried the Defense Department's Common Access Card (CAC). With a CAC, they could use almost all the same benefits and privileges as me, including catching a helicopter ride. Without a CAC, it is nearly impossible to even get onto a military base.

To get my CAC, I had to go to schedule a special visit to a military base outside of Washington. I have no idea how foreigners arrange to get their CACs.

Traveling through Jordan on my way to Iraq is a slightly surreal experience.

Despite my diplomatic credentials, I generally stay at rather modest hotel when I travel through Europe. I take mass transit, whenever possible, and I don't get suckered into pampered treatments at restaurants and hotels. I usually cram all my belongings everything into a large backpack and try to blend in with every other budget traveler moving through Europe.

However, due to the need to remain safe in Jordan, I now have to stay at five star hotels in Amman. They offer little perks such as fancy chocolates and night staff you turn down the bedsheets. Their restaurants are hopelessly over formal and very expensive by Middle Eastern standards. In a place where average people live on dollars a day, these hotels are out of reach of almost every person living in the region.

These five star hotels are my introduction back to the Middle East. They are my way station back to the war.

Mood:  not sure
Topic: Posts While on R&R
This afternoon I will begin my long trip back to Iraq. Almost all the flights to the Middle East from Europe leave in the late afternoon, which means I won't get to Amman until the the weeeee hours of the morning. This means I will only get a few hours of sleep before departing Amman for Iraq.

When I first flew into Iraq, I was very worried about entering a war zone with very little sleep. Now, I don't really worry about it because I can easily sleep on the plane from Amman to Iraq. I no longer have any trouble sleeping onto the way to Iraq. I have tuned out most of my deep-seeded concerns about security to let myself live as normal a life as possible.

Mood:  lucky
Topic: Posts While on R&R
Shortly before the war, roughly 84 percent of the UK citizens opposed the thought of going to war in Iraq. I am not sure what the current poll numbers say, but I can only guess that they are still fairly grim for Mr. Blair.

While walking the streets of London, I decided to take a stroll past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Not surprisingly, I found a small make-shift collection of anti-war posters resting within the shadows of Parliament. Some were simple visual signs that suggested that the war was simply about oil, yet other signs took a tougher approach by directly blaming the British government to the deaths of coalition forces and average Iraqis.

After spending nearly 11 months in Iraq, I realized that the protest signs had little affect upon me even though I really want to talk about Iraq and what should be done next. It is clear that I have to leave Iraq very soon or else I will completely lose the ability to listen and debate with other Americans about this issue. Otherwise, how can I and everyone else living and working inside Iraq truly share what we have to say about Iraq in a meaningful way to help America to make the right decisions?

Topic: Posts While on R&R
I can see how easy it is for people to forget about the war. I have watched some television while in London, and for the most part, it is rarely on the news. While newspapers do give some coverage to it, I find myself turning to online American newspapers and wire stories to keep up with what is happening in Iraq.

I have a feeling that it would be a little harder to forget about the war if I was visiting the States.

I wonder what type of coverage to war gets in the other countries of the coalition?

Topic: Posts While on R&R
Walking through the streets of London, I truly enjoy the freedom of going wherever I want without having to worry about someone trying to kidnap me or something blowing up. I don't see any t-wall of concrete bunkers with "blast shelter" signs resting on top of them.

However, for the first time in a long time I actually had to worry about someone stealing my stuff. Petty theft just isn't a real concern to Americans living inside the Zone. The Iraqis who work for me are so worried about losing their jobs that they would probably quickly rat out anyone who tried to steal sometime from me, and the Americans on my compound realize how little of us have - they don't want to take one of the few possession that I have in Iraq.

Topic: Posts While on R&R
The military doesn't really respect contractors. They are second class citizens. At Camp Stryker, which is near the airport, the military doesn't even let contractors eat with the soldiers. They make contractors eat in a separate facility. The military relies so heavily on contractors that it doesn't know what to do with a government employee like me. Even though I don't want to be treated like a "second class" contractor, they still lump me in with them because they didn't make a rules for government civilians since they see so few of us outside of the Green Zone.

Topic: Posts While on R&R
On my way out of Iraq onto my R&R in London, I met an old Iraqi coworker that recently moved to Jordan. When the "bad guys" threatened him about two months ago because they figured out that he worked for the Americans , he promptly moved to Jordan. He has found some part time work with the US embassy in Amman, but the Jordanian government doesn't like the US government hiring Iraqis when there are tons of smart, English-speaking Jordanians who would love to get a nice pay job with the US government. My old friend will likely lose his job by the end of the year.

My old coworker said that there were somewhere between 600,000 and 1 million Iraqis living in Jordan. Most are simply waiting out the war and will eventually go home. Even though most of them have money, most are treated like quasi-refugees. The Jordanians look down upon them, and every place that I visited with my friend, I had to go in first and be the first one to talk to make sure we received good service.

Here is a sign that I have been in Iraq too long. Check out this little exchange of emails regarding a car bomb that went off few days ago.

* * * * *

-----Original Message-----
From: Kim Kim
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 11:35 AM
To: alohafromtim
Subject: RE: oh my god . . .

Did you like the wakeup call this morning?


-----Original Message-----
From: Alohafromtim
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 11:37 AM
To: Kim Kim
Subject: RE: oh my god . . .

I sleep through the wakeup calls.


* * * * *

Scary thing . . . I wasn't joking around. I really do sleep through anything that goes boom in the morning.

I was supposed to take a helicopter to the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) last night, but I came down with a bout of food poisoning right as I was supposed to leave. I couldn't even stand for about an hour. I got better but not in time to catch the helicopter. Thus, I had to take the stupid Rhino Bus. I really, really hate traveling to the airport in the middle of the night and then getting dumped out at muddy military base.

I am going a short break to London and may not able to make daily postings until I get back to Iraq.

Topic: Daily Life
I threw a small party last night. Toward the end of the evening, a bunch of personal security detachment guys (PSDs) showed up. We ended up tossed a few back and teaching this young State Department kid, who was right out of college, how we drink Iraq.

As I was cleaning up the next morning, I would a backpack with an M-16 clip inside of it. There were a few soldiers at my place, but one of the PSDs probably owned the clip. I have a feeling that finding a clip isn't a common thing outside of Iraq. Here, it is so commonplace that I didn’t even think twice about it. I simply left it on my porch for about an hour or two until someone finally came by to pick it up.