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Drinking Tea with the Sheik in Hit

We went to the compound of the leading Sheik near city of Hit on the Euphrates to meet with the sheik & the town mayor.    You can see me above on the way in.  This landscape may look a little on the bleak side to you, but to me it is a green paradise.  On the ride in, I could see the Euphrates.  It is like a green ribbon laid across an eternity of brown sand.

The Sheik is a young man of around 30.  He unexpectedly inherited the leadership of the Albu Nimr tribe, which has around 200,000 members living along the Euphrates.  It is sort of his first post.  State colleagues will know what I mean.  His uncle was a wise old man.  He needs some medical treatment in the U.S. and my task is to make sure he has no visa troubles.  The Nimr are good guys.  They are fighting Al Qaeda and the criminal gangs of insurgents. 

We were treated to coffee and tea.  The coffee was extremely strong and thick.  They give you a little cup with almost none in it, but that is enough.  If you do not want a refill, you have to shake the cup.  You do not want a refill.  Tea tastes like sweet tea and is not bad.  They have a funny custom.  People sit around the room on built in couches.  When somebody else comes in, he goes around and meets everybody.  It seems unorganized, but evidently personal acknowledgement is very important.  Not everybody comes in at the same time.  At first only a few are there.  Then more come in until there is a big crowd.  Everybody is friendly and polite.

We conducted or tried to conduct some business, talking about contracts & projects and then it was time for lunch. 

The meal is a big deal in local culture.  They bring in all the food on big platters and everybody eats with their hands.   The pita style bread is very good.   We also had chicken, lamb, rice, vegetables and some kind of boney fish from the river.  The food was very good.  The same thing goes for the food as for the general meeting. At first, I was just us and a few local guys.  Then more and more of them wandered in.  They would come by, suggest a piece of food, make some small talk and move along.   When we left, a bunch of people descended on the table.  I guess they have to wait and get the scraps.

We had to eat and run because the helicopters were coming.   I will never learn to love helicopter travel.   As you approach, you are fried by the hot air from the exhaust.  It is noisy and slippery.  That said, this was a not a bad helicopter.  I am not sure what kind it was.  Somebody told me it was a Chinook.

We do most of our traveling by helicopter.  Regulations require full kit for the ride.  I do not like it.  Those jackets weigh a lot.  I figure in the event of an actual crash, it would be more dangerous to be crashing with 50lbs of metal strapped to you.  If you crashed in water … I am sitting next to the colonel.  You notice they do not give me a weapon.  The colonel is a great guy and we are getting along very well.  The Marines seem to understand the local tribes.  The tribes are very martial.   One of the complaints the Sheik made  was that there were not enough places in the military for all their young men who wanted to join up.  Desert people are like that.  They are admirable in that respect.   They may be less inclined toward the prosaic arts required for peaceful prosperity.  I can anticipate some frustration in doing business here.  Some of these guys do not appear to own a watch.  I have 360 days to do my job and I keep on thinking Kipling.

“And the end of the fight is a tombstone white with the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear:  “A Fool lies here who tried to hustle the East.”

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An Uneventful, but Full Day in Al Asad

Today I did not go anywhere.  Travel is arduous, so I am glad to stick  around.   It was not a nice day, however.  It was a bit humid AND dusty.  I kinda thought those two things would not go together.  We are also getting some bugs and, although I have not yet seen any,  it is snake & scorpion season.  Evidently in summer it gets too hot even for those nasty cold-blooded creatures.  So now with the advent of the cool (the term is relative) weather, they begin to slither or crawl around more energetically.

I had my medical briefing.  The doctor wondered how I could have left the U.S. w/o all the shots.  He was also surprised at my relative lack of medical history.  I told him that my father had been to the doctor in 1945, the early 1970s and when he died a quarter century later.  I am not sure that last one counts, seeing as he was already dead.  Anyway, that was enough for him. I had already been much more often.  I had to get an anthrax shot today.  It stings for about ten minutes.  I have to get three more.    I also need tetanus, smallpox and yellow fever.   The doctor says those things are not really around here very much, but it is a requirement.  He warned about the scorpions, however.  Three of the local species can be deadly.  They are rarely really a problem, he says.  Just a nuisance.  In our “cans” they are not found.  I guess they eradicate them periodically.  I do not feel sorry for them.

Marine culture is interesting, very different from State Dept but I find much to admire.  They have lots of meetings, but people are very well prepared and nobody wanders off topic.  They are also very aggressive and they DO seem to believe all that stuff they talk about.  When they are attacked, they respond.  I can see how it can cause trouble in some PC circles.  If a Marine gets killed or even shot at, they all want to go out and catch the bad guys.

The Marines treat me with respect.  I think I am doing okay with them, but we are very different in our worldviews. My tolerance of ambiguity is something strange among them.  They like plans and they like to make specific progress against those plans.  But, they seem to recognize my particular skills and the need for some ambiguity in what we are planning.  They are coming around and talking to me one-on-one.  I guess it is the same for me.  I recognize the need for their skills and outlook.  I think we can work together well.  I got some mileage for being physically fit, not as good as they are of course, but they can recognize it. It is really a big deal for them.

One guy told me that the way they see it Marines are carnivores and State Department is made up of vegetarians.  I do not want to eat nothing but red meat, but I want to show I am not a “tofudobeast” either.

I talked to the base commander.  Everybody assumes he will make general after this, and he deserves it.  I told him that my job was to make his job easier in development, public diplomacy and peace building.  He liked that.  We agreed on almost all the priorities.  The thing I like about the Marines is that they are very truthful – maybe blunt.   I used to think I was like that, but now I see I am not.  He showed me all the operations on a big map.  He knows it all in great detail. He was proud of what his Marines had accomplished and it is a grand accomplishment.  The new strategy worked.  They take the ground and then they send some Marines to go live there and hold it.  After that comes the building stage, where I hope to make contributions. Conditions at these forward bases are atrocious.  The Marines consider our situation at Al Asad the height of luxury, and I guess it is.  We have AC and hot food.  At these little forward bases, the snakes and scorpions are not eradicated.

Speaking of luxury, I moved into my predecessor’s can.  It is a double wide, literally twice as big. I like to have a little extra space, but that was not a big problem for me before.  What I miss is being able to go out among the trees, even things like sitting on the deck and enjoying the green.  It is also noisy all the time.  Helicopters fly around.   We have the sound and smell of generators.  Trucks roll by.  I am adapting.  The conditions are bad, but the work is good. 

Now comes the time of paperwork and bureaucracy.  I have a bunch of projects to approve, or not.  I can approve up to $25K.  After that, up to $200K we need to have Baghdad approve.  In some of the projects I am afraid that we are getting ripped off.  I really do not mind if that is a cost of doing local business and influencing people,  but I do not want us to be seen as weak or stupid negotiators.  I am asking to go back and get better deals.  I think that will cause of bit of consternation among our guys, but I think we will get more respect from the locals if we do it AND we will get a better deal for the taxpayer.  Nobody likes a cheapskate, but nobody respects a wimp.  I think we have to play the local negotiation game.  That is why we have local specialist and making sure it gets done is where I add value. 

I am also trying to get alternative energy considered.  When we do local power generation, I always ask about solar.   The sun stares unremittingly on this land anyway and shines the most when people want air conditioning; we may as well make some that hot light into electricity.   I think it will work. Even in this land of hydrocarbon, actually getting fuel to remote places is difficult and expensive.  Solar works here.  I hope to make it work more. 

Although riding in helicopters is more dramatic, I have to admit that I have more of the pencil necked bureaucrat than the warrior in me, a talker, not a fighter.  My sort is needed here too.

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Iftar in Haditha

These are some of the Iftar guests waiting to hear the after dinner talk.  Sorry for the blur. I have to work on my camera settings.

 It was a long helicopter ride to Haditha.  We had the show time of 11.  Then we had to wait in the sun for a long time.  Then we had to land and refuel.  Then we flew I do not know where.  The bottom line is that the half hour trip took about 3 hours.

We were going for an Iftar dinner, but since I had a few hours before the event, we went to the CMOC, the place where the Marines interface with the local people.  Since it was Tuesday, they were open for business.  Movement in the city is still controlled and the Marines issue driving permits.  It is a very good way to get to know the people and get a handle on the population.  Unfortunately, it is “good” in the way a visa line is good.  People come, but waiting in line for hours is not their idea of a positive experience.  How popular is the DMV back home?  For now the process provides valuable security protection, but we need to get out of this business quick as we can.  You do not win friends by creating backlogs.

There must have been a couple hundred Iraqi men waiting in line.  Many were dressed in various traditional costumes.   The balance had on something like polo shirts.  They were very patient.  To the apparent surprise of my translator, I decide to work the line.  My translator assured me that no good could come from this, since they would not tell me the truth, but I figured I could learn something from what they said anyway.  Most told me that the security situation had improved.  About that they were happy.  But the restrictions and bureaucratic procedures were starting to pinch.  One guy claimed he delivered cooking gas and had to cross the bridge.  He needed a permit and he complained that he had to renew that permit each week, standing hours in line each time.  He had a point.  Other people just did not like the procedure.  Some figured that they were important people and should not have to put up with such trouble.  I suppose they had a point too.  One guy, who insisted on speaking English but was really hard to understand, told me he was a Turkoman who had fled the city of Kirkuk.  He was not fond of the Kurds and evidently they felt the same way about him, hence his unexpected sojourn in Syria, where he was treated poorly too, and ultimate settlement in Anbar.  He offered the unsolicited advice that I should never eat any food in the south of Iraq because it would give me diarrhea.   Let’s hope he doesn’t end up there should he fall out with the Anbari.

Dressed as I was in my wrinkle free blue Brooks Brothers shirt and civilian clothes (I made a special point of being “civilian”), I am not sure the people in the line knew what to make of me.   Of course I doubt anybody told me the whole truth, but their words had the feel of “truthyness”, as Stephen Colbert says.   I do not know if the smiles were sincere, but the grumbling was real – and justified.   I am sure they also felt a lot of anger, which they did not express to me.  In their place, I sure would have felt that way. 

After a while I realized that they thought I could solve some of their problems.  I felt bad for creating the false hope so I retreated inside.  I am a great believer in eliminating the petty annoyances that plague ordinary people’s lives and  I am trying to think of suggestions to ameliorate the situation, but it really cannot be fixed.  The Marines were working hard & treating the people with respect.  The Iraqi police, who were doing the initial screening, seemed polite.  When it is not Ramadan one of the Iraqi employees told me that they provide water, but there is only so much you can do with something like this.  We need to eliminate the whole thing.  The Catch 22 is that we cannot do that until the situation is more “normal” but such daily annoyances are among the things that make it abnormal.

Iftars start at sundown, so we started up to the police HQ around 5:30.  This are used to be a youth center and sports complex.  There was a soccer field with bleachers.  It looked like an ordinary soccer field, except there was no grass.  One of the guys explained to me that it would not be worth the water to grow grass and that Iraqis were accustomed to these kinds of surfaces anyway.  I suppose it is like playing tennis on a clay court – a dusty clay court.

We went through Iraqi security and then Marine security and got to a big lecture hall where the Iftar meal was to be held.  The local civil authorities and sheiks started to arrive.   The most important was a very old and frail looking guy who chain smoked.  He was very old, but despite the nasty habit was in good health.  He still has a strong handshake and I could see and feel the politician in him even in the twilight years.  He had decided that it was in the best interests of his people to go with America.  He was right and we were grateful.  I then met some of the younger guys.  When they shake hands, they do a type of shoulder bump.  I had seen it before and even practiced it, but they noticed my inexperience.  One of them told me that I would get better as I spent more time in Iraq.

The mayor of Haditha was the official host.  When I talked to him, it was clear he was interested in the good of his people.  He said that schools were most urgent.  They had school buildings, but were lacking desks, supplies and often windows.  There is also a shortage of trained teachers.  Iraqis had once been among the most educated people in the Arab world, but Saddam was not much interested in it, especially in the later years.  The government would sometimes make a PR point of opening a new school, but they did maintain the ones they had.  Education was a kind of Potemkin village in Iraq.   

The mayor of neighboring Barwana said very similar things.   He was a friendly younger guy.  He said he could understand English, but not speak it.   I am inclined to believe he was telling the truth.  He seemed to know what I said before the translation came in. 

Power for both cities comes from the Haditha Dam, which impounds the water of the Euphrates. The dam is running at capacity, but that capacity is low.  This country has lots of potential.  It has come a long way and there is a lot of work to do, but I think it can make it this time, God willing.

I spoke to the colonel of the Marines who is scheduled to take over command in Haditha.   He had been in Falujah during the intense fighting there a couple years ago.  He told me that the change in Al Anbar is unbelievable.   When he was here last time, he thought that we had essentially lost and that all that was left was the recognition.  Today things are going in our direction and peace is possible.

This was a good visit.  People were friendly and seemed ready to cooperate. My only fear is that we ( and I) will not be able to live up to expectations.  There is a lot to do here and it is hard to get things done.   The flight back was uneventful.  I still do not like helicopter rides at night, however.

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River City Charlie

That is the term when private communications on the base – phone & Internet – are shut down.  When I saw the message on my office computer, I knew that it usually lasts 12-48 hours and usually it means that someone has been killed.  That is what it means this time.  I do not know other details, but I know someone died in Al Qaim.  Communications will be restored when the military has notified the next of kin.  If you are reading this communications are open again because the loved ones know that they have lost a son, daughter, husband or wife.   

Although I was in Al Qaim the day before yesterday, I doubt if I met the guy who died.  Still I feel a profound sadness.  I remember the young faces and the energy of all the Marines I met and talked with.   They are the ages of my kids.  It is more personal now.  The Marines take it hard when any of their own is killed.  I cannot feel their sense of family but even in my very short time here I begin to feel closer now that I have slept next to their cots, heard their stories, and rode with them in helicopters & humvees.  

The Marines never forget.  They set a place in the chow halls for the missing and I have observed how they treat these places with reverence.  Next to my office stands a helmet on a rifle hung with dog-tags of the fallen.  The Marines have a strong culture that can be very hard for a career civilian like me to understand.  They never forget, but they go on.  They never forget, but they do not dwell on the loss.  They take it personally, however. 

River City Charlie is becoming less common here in western Al Anbar.  I am grateful for that.  I am starting to take it personally too.  Like the Marines I live with, I want to get this job done and I want all of us to come home safely.

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Helicopter Rides are More Fun in the Daylight

 This is the last one for today.  There are two more new entries below. 

We flew from Asad to Al Qaim, which is up river near the Syrian border.  I am much happier today because I see some real progress and places where we can do some good.

I met with the colonel of the Marines in Al Qaim.   In one hour I learned more about a successful counter insurgency than I learned in years.  I will not go into details but he explained you have to clear, hold and build.  A couple years ago, we were hunkered down on big bases.   The insurgents were intimidating the local population.  Things were bad.  The insurgents and Al Qaida, however, managed to annoy the the local people.  One of the big tribes, the Abu Mahal, decided they had enough and started to fight back.   Unfortunately others sat on the fence.  The insurgents were better armed and they were winning. 

Then the tribal leaders asked the Marines for help.  Together they pushed the bad guys out.  Success lead to confidence; more tribes joined in.  Young men started to join the police and Iraqi army.  Pretty soon the bad guys were in the desert eating dirt, with snakes & scorpions their only friends.  Although they can still cause damage, make life unpleasant & dangerous sometimes and fire the odd angry shot, they have not had the initiative since.  The colonel showed me a map of how it had played out. The colors changed.  It is the ink blot idea of spreading security, each month, more territory in the hands of friends.  The Marines are working with local Iraqi army units and police and soon they can give some of the places entirely back to them.  They can defend those places and some of our Marines can come home.

We are in the building stage now.  The Marines, Army Corp of Engineers and Seabees are helping put things in order.  So are members of my PRT.  I am proud of the work they have done and what I will (I hope) do.

We met the mayor of the region.  He was very smart and friendly.  You can see him and his guys, along with the colonel and my predecessor.  I was impressed by their level of professional competence as well as their obvious affection for the colonel.  The mayor hopes to visit him in California and their daughters are pen pals.

We flew back that afternoon.  The ride was uneventful except when they shot off some flares.  I heard pop-pop-pop and thought it was shooting – at us.  Just flairs shot off by the flight crew.  As for the ride, take a look at the picture up top, which is worth 1000 of my words.  There I am below.  Sorry for the blur.

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My First Chopper Ride

Sorry to dump several in one day, but I have not had access to Internet for awhile.  

Riding in a helicopter is something that is more fun in theory than in fact.  It might have been a lot of fun to fly during the day, but we do the night.  I could see the lights of Baghdad, but not much after that.

 I understand that it was a CH 46.  That means nothing much to me.  It looked like a bus with two rotors and the old Greyhound Bus feeling was there.   I got the windy seat and it was like sitting in a tornado because the wind kind of swirled at high speeds with my head as the vortex.  For a minute it was exhilarating – a minute.

We flew through the night and landed in what would be a grassy field back home.  Here it seemed to be mostly sand and gravel.  I really am not sure, since I could not see in the darkness.  The crew chief pointing to six of us and said, “You guys get off.”  We did.  He took pity on our confusion and told us with what sounded like just a hint of condescension, go toward those lights.  A couple of guys were coming toward us with those glow stick.  At least we assumed that, since we saw only floating glow sticks.

They were escorts. We followed them, me dragging my luggage, the wheels working imperfectly on the gravel/sand, with body amour and my backpack.  My advise to self and others is lighter travel.

We got to a plywood and steel building and checked in.  Then we were sent to a canvas Quonset hut where we waited.  We were a mixed lot: a blogger doing embedded reporting, a female Air Force Captain, a Marine going to a forward operating base (FOB) and some strange guy who seemed interested in hearing what I was doing, but would say only that he was “passing through the territory” when I returned questions.  Looked like a journalist.

The glow stick guys returned.  We lined up and waited in a parking lot. Then we went back in the field, where we lined up the middle of nowhere again.  The glow stick guy dropped a glow stick and told us to wait.   As my eyes got adjusted to the darkness, I noticed other groups of sojourners, standing silently like apparitions in the dark.  I also noticed stars, so I laid down on my body amour to appreciate them.  A short time later a helicopter came and picked up one of the groups of apparitions.   It made a cloud of dust, which drizzled out on me and got in my eyes.  I did not lay back down, as I came to fear that something might be crawling across the sand and it probably had a poisonous sting or bite.  Probably not, but such things scare me.  I saw some of those giant scorpions on Discovery Channel.  I hope never to meet them in person.

Finally our ride came.  It was a different kind of machine.  I ask the guy in back of me what kind it was.  I think he told me, but I could not hear over the din of the engines.  We took off.  The back is open.  I could see the darker silhouette of the tail gunner against the dark sky and not much else.  We traveled for a while and then landed.  People got off, so I did too.  The helicopter left, blasting us all with sand and dust.  Then I found out that I was in the wrong place.  The helicopter made a stop at Haditha FOB.   The Marines promised to take care of me, and they did.  I had a chance to see the conditions of a FOB.  They are harsh.

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Forward Operating Base in Haditha

I am piling on a couple of days, so please look below and above.

It was lucky that I made this travel error.  I got to see an FOB before I was a VIP.  When the captain at the FOB came to understand that I would be PRT leader and not just a member he was a little circumspect.  My predecessor is an OC, which translates to a two star general.  I assured the captain that I was a significantly lower rank and that he need not worry, but I can see that when I travel as PRT leader people will make special preparations.  Good to see the real world first.

This FOB is firmly ensconced with the Iraqi police in the district.  Cooperation looks good.  When I arrived, they were running some sort of readiness exercise and evidently doing very well.   The Marine captain from Florida respected the Iraqis and seemed to get it back from them.  He explained that the local Sheiks had allowed/instructed their young men to join the police and the military.   Many at the station were kin.  The captain compared that to an extended Boston family where many of the relations are cops and some branch off into municipal affairs.

The police I saw running the exercise using radios and plotting things on maps and charts looked professional and competent.  They were neat and their building was as neat as possible.  It does need renovation.  Many of the buildings were casualties of war.  There was a lot of fighting here in Haditha, first between U.S. and insurgents, later insurgents and Iraqis, then the Marines and the insurgents.  This place was essentially lost, but now it is returned thanks to good Iraqis, the Marines, the terribleness of the insurgents and good luck.  

I spent the night with the Marines on a hard cot.  I did not want to make too much noise.  These guys work hard and deserve their sleep.   I figured the Marines could defend themselves, and me too.  I did not want to interfere with their fighting prowess in any way.   

We were up early the next day.   I talked to a Marine sergeant  from NC who told me the way things were in Haditha. It had been a real war zone just months ago.  The Marines kicked out the bad guys and then stayed to get to know the good Iraqis.  As the Marines got close to the people, they got to know who the bad guys were.  They also learned to tell threatening from normal local behavior.  The local Iraqis learned the same things about the Marines.  Trust, or at least predictability, was the result.  Attacks have dropped to almost none.  The latest was a roadside bomb that managed only to kill a 70 year old man.  This just made the local Iraqis angrier at the insurgents.  No Americas or Iraqi forces where even nearby.  It was probably a terrorist mistake.

With security comes peace and then projects.  The Marines, Iraqis and various others, including our PRT, are rebuilding infrastructure.  Fresh water and power are priorities.  Life is assuming a normality.  After a war, people appreciate normality.   

The young sergeant was truly impressive in his understanding of human affairs.  That is him in the picture.  You can see the real warrior and the State Department version.   It might be hard to tell the difference, but try.

We set off in a Humvee column to Haditha Dam.  There is a bigger base there.  The Marines guard the dam.  This was my first convoy, so I was afraid of everything as I looked out the window.  We passed some boys, who smiled and waved.  I was scared.  We passed some rocks.  I was scared.  We passed some … you get the idea.  But the trip was completely uneventful. 

Haditha is not attractive these days, but probably will be all right when it is fixed up.   The area near the Euphrates is green, with fields and palm trees.  The green stops abruptly and turns to desert, where nothing at all grows.  There is no transition.  It is either green or yellow-brown dirt and rocks.  I prefer green.

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Show Time

When they say “show time” it literally means the time you show up.  It is not an attempt to sound cool nor is it an reliable indication about the time you will actually travel.   For several sound logistical and security reasons, flights in war zones cannot be scheduled like commercial carriers. Besides, most of the time our personal travel considerations are not the highest priority.  You usually cannot even find out the precise show time until a few hours before.  That means you wait, then you rush to some uncomfortable location, hang around for an indeterminate time and then rush to the next  one, which may well be just another waiting area. 

Before someone starts thinking “Oh that is just like flying back home” – it ain’t.  The funny thing about it, however, is that it is somewhat less annoying than the comparative comfort and predictability of travel back home.  Expectations are lower.  You expect to have to move your own luggage and help others move theirs, so you learn not to bring much.  You expect uncertainty.  You do not make appointments tightly.  There is no first class travel, so you do not feel the sting of relative deprivation.  You expect to spend a couple hours waiting, so you figure out something to do.  Some people have developed the ability to fall asleep in seconds and sleep in almost any position.   I can do that.  I noticed people keeping journals.  I do that too, so generally adaptations are simple, if not easy.

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100 Years in Four Days

It has been only four days.  I left the U.S. late on Friday.  It is now Tuesday afternoon here, still morning where I came from.  It sure is hard to believe it was only four days ago that I was typing at a computer at IIP and cleaning off my desk for the last (maybe also first) time.  So much is different. 

My day was full of meetings.  I am learning more about how a PRT works and knowing less.  There is no plan that can tell me how to do my new job.  Many have been in such situations & places before, but they remain always undiscovered, where past experience is crucial, but cannot be directly applied.  We have to learn by doing, plan by doing and do by … doing.  I have reasonable confidence that I can do this job, but I could not tell you now with any specificity what I can do.

I met a really good source in the PRT leader from Diyala.  His name is John Jones.  I am making him my model.  He has experienced the FS and life.  He has been shot at and bombed near, but he maintains composure – a friendly equanimity – I admire.  What is more, his family used to own forest land on the James River in Buckingham County.   We talked a bit re that.  He is thinking about getting some forest land in Southside, VA.  Maybe I can return his favor by helping him out with that.  

Diyala is now what Anbar was a couple months ago.  It is still dangerous but moving in the right direction.  John Jones has seen a lot.  He told me that we just have to invent, innovate and experiment.  He talked a little about the cultural difference, not only Iraqis and Americans, but also State and DOD.  I took some lessons I think will be useful.

I had an appointment at the PRT Baghdad, which is outside the Embassy compound. Met some good people.  I walked back to the Embassy.  It takes only about ten minutes.  It takes just about that long to drive because of the route and checkpoints. The streets are quiet, since few cars are allowed to drive in the IZ.   It was really hot in the sun, but pleasant in the shade of the tree where you have them.  It was a very warm summer day – but this is October.  I do not look forward to July.  I felt safe, but the presence of “duck & cover” bunkers placed regularly along the road and lots of armed men reminded me that the peacefulness might be deceptive.  Most people think the security situation here is much improved, but they also fear the progress could be fragile. 

On the Embassy compound, we live in a village that looks a lot like a Florida trailer park with sandbags.  It is not bad.  There are lots of palm trees.  I like to think of my place like a cabana. Some of the military guys tell me that this is like heaven, mentioning more Spartan conditions they experienced in the past and warning of less comfort in the future in parts of Anbar.  Life is tough all over.

I was surprise to see beer in the refrigerator at the DFAC.  You recall my paean to beer two posts past and my belief that I would not see it again soon, so I was happy.  But then I noticed those terrible words – “non alcoholic”.  I do like the taste, so I drank some, but it is not the same.

Well, I am off to get something to eat and then I hope to get some sleep.  A combination of jet lag, stress of the trip and busy schedules is wearing me down at bit.  I want to stay energetic.   I know that my experience so far has been prosaic.  I kinda hope it doesn’t get too much more exciting in some ways.  I welcome comments.

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Landing in Beautiful Baghdad

It is hot (even in October) and dry.  A fine dust covers most things.  It is slippery with fine dust.  I am sure that the airport is not the best impression Iraq has to offer and it is much the worse for the wear of vehicles.  I expect everything now will be an improvement.   No matter what, it is exciting to be here in ancient Mesopotamia.  I read about this place, the cradle of civilization, since I was ten years old.

We came over from Amman on a C130, packed like sardines.  There was no meal service or in flight movie.  You see in rows along the side, like in those old movies. The seats are just canvas with netting.  They do not recline. When the plane moves, you are pushed side to side.   This is a cargo, not a passenger plane.  We are cargo. Besides that, however, it is surprisingly comfortable.  The engines are loud, but not as bad as I thought.  The flight is fairly smooth until they take the standard evasive action on before landing. I expected a bumpier ride.

Once we arrive we processed through a series of tents and trailers. I got processed in, got my flack jacket and helmet and I am good to go.  People are businesslike, but friendly.  Their mood is good.  Their upbeat attitude is surprising and does not match the barren landscape.  After processing, I went over to the chow hall.  It is nice.  The food is good, certainly the quality you would get at a good restaurant buffet. There is lots of it and it is all free.  My challenge will be no eating too much.  I had roast turkey with rice.  It was very good. Then I had some friend chicken with potatoes.  Good too.  Then I had a salad.  Ditto. Finally I had some cake.  Of course, all this was okay for the diet because I drank diet coke.  In my defense, I didn’t get to eat all day and finally got to the chow hall after a fairly busy day around 5.  

Tonight we will go to the Green Zone on an armored bus – a RINO.  I think the Green Zone will be more pleasant.  I do not know when I will get a decent night’s sleep.  So far travel has precluded that.  

After waiting for around 9 hours at the Sully Compound, we moved to a place called the stables and waited there for 3+ hours until the RINO came.  You never know when the RINO will come.  That is the design.  So you wait and when it comes, you get on.  The chief of the bus goes through something akin to that safety demo you get on airplanes.  I will not go into details, but he tells you what to do if we are hit in various ways.  Luckily, the trip was uneventful and the trip was reasonably comfortable. I could see little in the dark through the tinted windows.  I could tell that the topography is pancake-flat, but I could not tell much else. 


I have already been meeting people who know things I want to know.   I met an experienced PRT leader who explained the work.  It is varied.  We are inventing the jobs as we go them.  As I try to put it into terms I can understand, it seems like a BPAO on steroids with the military, danger & development permutation.  PRTs must dispense lots of money and look for worthy projects.  Millions of dollars.  In fact, money is not the problem.   The Iraqis also have piles of money  from their oil revenues, but the central government does not have the capacity to allocate and spend it productively.  We forget all the thousands of middle managers, accountants and budget specialists that lubricate our own spending. A big PRT job, and the others here,  is helping build capacity.  

The PRT people get out more than I thought.  The PRT leader told me that he gets out to meet contacts most days of the week.  It is not as easy as it would be most other places, but it is doable.  

I also learned that Iraqis are very fond of sweets.  I was advised to get some of those Wurther style chocolates to give as little token gifts.   Chocolate is popular, but ordinary chocolate does not travel well in Iraqi temperatures.  I have been told re drinking the tea.  The tea, I am told, is very hot and very sweet.  Three cups is the norm.  You can usually say no after that.  Iraqis are hospitable and expect to eat more than you think you should (see above re chow halls).  Some people drink alcohol, but it is not a good idea to join them.

Anyway, it will be an interesting experience.  I hope and believe that I will find most of Iraq nicer than this here and now place.  I remain optimistic. Later …

I got to the Embassy compound at night and was assigned a temporary trailer.  It was hard to find it among the trailer park, but I finally did and around 330 am finally got some rest.
 

The compound is an old Saddam palace.  I have mixed feelings about these palaces.  They are indeed impressive, but mostly in the profligately big Soviet style, along the same lines as the Palace of Cultures that clutter Moscow and other capitals of the former Warsaw Pact. 

The green zone is literally green, with lots of trees and plants.  Still dust & heat, but it is very pleasant in general.  The soil here is fertile if given water and not salinated by over irrigation.  This is the fertile crescent, after all. 
 
Once again, I was surprised by the high morale.  I think that might be because everyone is important; everyone has a job to do and cooperation is needed in most things.  For example, we unload our own luggage from the trucks.  A luggage line forms spontaneously.  You pass the bags back into someone’s willing hands and they all get unloaded quickly.  People have been very welcoming.  At the chow halls, for example, you can just start talking and people respond well telling you things you need to know.   There are lots of people who know things I want to know and they are eager to share. 
 Anyway, I need to run.  I apologize in advance for any editing errors I made in my haste.  I have some pictures that I hope to post later.