life goes on...

flying over baghdad the other day i was amazed that life keeps on moving on. here is a city rapt in violence yet people still go to work, children still play and somewhere in the middle of it all people smile on occasion.

much like the children in iraq; the population can be lost in the statistics and it can be easy to blame the entire nation for small sects of hate but the lives of good people, working for change goes on everyday.

meeting ali

a couple posts back i talked about the loss of capt. brian freeman and the work he was doing to change lives in iraq. one such story is that of ali. ali is an eleven-year-old with a heart defect that greatly reduces energy and his body's ability to survive. sadly, if ali were to miss any treatment as his body launched into his teens he would experience even less mobility and potential death. but ali had a champion in brian freeman and soon ali will be lying in a new york hospital bed recovering from surgery fixing the problem.

yesterday i had the opportunity to meet ali for the first time and he is an amazing boy that one day hopes to be a soccer star!

a few members of my team, joined by the navy captain in charge of the national iraqi assistance center (a office that works on health care cases like this one finding patients care since their own system often lacks the expertise needed) took a reporter from the washington post to interview ali and his father.

back in the states, conn. senator dodd has been using capt. freeman's death as a statement of how the congress should oppose any new efforts in iraq. but capt. freeman wanted change not absence from iraq. brian thought it best to have those trained in areas work in those areas (just as the president announced a new civil/military outreach to hire experts for various military jobs.) and the example brian set as a caring individual working tirelessly for children like ali will live on here and hopefully at home.

ali is a testament to one man's dedication and an indication of the way forward in iraq. he is a member of iraq's greatest generation - at least a generation with the greatest opportunity. i pray that his health improves with surgery and ali returns to iraq ready to lead, not only on the soccer field but among his peers and his nation.

why we are here

with the bombs in the background and the death on the news we can often lose site of why we are here. i am not talking about the reasons for war - those have long been debated - but i am talking about why we must care about and be vigorous in the reconstruction of iraq.

today i had the enormous honor of joining a team of military and state department folks destined for a baghdad elementary school to teach students about dental hygiene. the team was led by yasir bahrani, an iraqi-american dentist who is serving in the naval reserves at the embassy. yasir is set to go home on sunday but he was sure to get in this visit with the children before he left. over 200 students received a new tooth brush and tooth paste thanks to colgate.

as i sat in the crowded auditorium at the school i was filled with hope for this country as i saw the faces of a new generation of iraqis. these kids are not going to have it easy. they will be responsible for the future of their country more than any generation before and we will be counting on them. but the light in their eyes indicates that the country will be in good hands.

as a photographer i always miss one shot; you know the one you wish you had taken. i missed one today. as one group of students was filing out of the room, the children were finding their way to the americans in the room to thank them. i was positioned next to navy commander bob collins just as a little boy moved beyond the typical handshake for a hug. while the camera missed the shot, the image will be etched in my memory.

this is why we are here.

loss of a treasure...

it has been a rough few weeks here in iraq and in the course of war we lost a great man that i had the honor to meet through work. captain brian freeman was working tirelessly to arrange and organ transplant for an iraqi child through contacts in new york and he was coordinating with our team to apply media pressure. each time brian was in baghdad he would make time to stop in to our office and give us updates and because of his work he ranked as one of our favorite officers.

last week brian died as a result of injuries received when his meeting in a central iraq city was ambushed. just a couple of years older than me at 31, brian is survived by a young wife and two children.

we knew brian as passionate and dedicated. may his legacy lead to change here.

more.

just today the visa was approved for the iraqi child to travel to the u.s. for treatment - a lasting testament to capt. freeman's caring work.

the schedule is not your own

this week i was scheduled to spend four days in a province north of baghdad with a reporter to highlight the work of one of our provincial reconstruction teams (prt). the prt we visited is just outside of tikrit and they are doing some amazing work.

quite by the luck of the draw a great team of civilian and military professionals have come together to support and advise iraqis as they build their new democracy and stabilize their cities. while the country has a long way to go; the members of the prt work long hours each day of the week, meeting with iraqi elected officials, iraqi judges, health care providers, all in an effort to provide iraqis with the basis from which they can decided how to manage their institutions and government.

while some of this work is dangerous for americans it is more so for iraqis. and this is exactly what motivates the staff to keep working; they find inspiration in the dedication of iraqis. these are people that face kidnapping or death simply for meeting with americans but these streets belong to them and they have a vision of a better future and are sacrificing themselves to realize the vision.

but the schedule is often not your own and we had to head back to baghdad early. wednesday in baghdad the fiance of another reporter, an american working to promote democracy, was killed when her car was ambushed. as the reporter traveling with me was the bureau chief, he had to get back to take care of his team. due to the loss it has been a tough few days for many who both knew the woman and her fiance well.

this is iraq. great potential and dedicated workers forced to contend with unfair and meaningless death and murder. this is what will have to change if iraq is to see a new day of freedom and democracy.

still clicking

i apologize for my absence. it has been a busy few days while i try to bring some work to a close. life here in the green zone is good and the people and their personalities can keep you occupied.

in the coming weeks i will be traveling through the country a bit to size up some of the iraqis' activities as they rebuild their country and i plan on taking plenty of pictures. i encourage you to keep an eye out for the next issue of newsweek and an article about the forensics lab at the police college. they have a ways to go before they match hollywood's csi but the work they are doing is important and indicates iraqi determination not only to solve crimes but to secure their country.

in other news; i have set my return to the states. i will arrive just in time for april fools day after spending some time in the british isles. i am looking forward to it but have a lot of work to do before then.

thanks for stopping by and look for more soon.

going for a dip

despite the title of this post i have not jumped in the pool here at the palace yet; and doubt i will before i head out in march. when i took this job i remember my boss saying something along the lines of "hell freezes over," so i knew it would get colder here than my western mind could imagine the desert to be like. this morning i learned that iraq is having one of the colder winters of recent history.

now colder to someone in iraq is a high around 50 degrees and lows in the 30s so those of you in the northern u.s. may see that as resort temperatures but it really is cold i swear. for example our trailers have shared bathrooms and when the rooms are heated (by a noisy window unit) the common space or bathrooms are not. you can move pretty quickly in the morning when you are shivering! of course it beats having to leave the trailer and walk to the shower.

just monday about 50 or so people (mostly military who had not been out partying the night before) took the polar plunge in the palace pool. brave souls. yes it looks inviting and refreshing but when we put the pool in context with the weather things change.

while this post is fairly meaningless the one thing we should take away from it is that iraq is not hot year round and winter nights and mornings can be pretty cold. so when planning travel to iraq i suggest mid spring...