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...

a new year, a new day in iraq

i doubt i will ever again wake up in a country that has just executed it's former leader. but that is in fact what happened yesterday. as you know (since you couldn't avoid the news) saddam hussein's death sentence was carried out early saturday morning here in baghdad and now we are left to determine how iraq will move forward with the dictator a distant memory.

i wish i could tell you that the execution was not one of those items that would further drive the shia and sunni populations against each other but as more video of the execution becomes available we are learning that the executioners were in fact chanting praise to shia leaders while shouting that the dictator was going to hell. not that i disagree with their assessment of the final destination, but i wonder if it would have been better to leave religion out of the execution chamber and allow for it to be a government act, which it was.

this culture though is not likely to easily divorce their religious passions with the governmental process so this will be another mountain for the iraqi democracy to climb.

despite news reports though the reaction to the execution was not nearly as violent as reporter early. on arab television we have seen more celebration than devastation.

tomorrow iraq will wake up in a new year and it will be a new day for the nation absent its former dictator.

iraqis policing themselves

yesterday i had the great opportunity of taking a reporter to the baghdad police college to tour the new forensics lab and witness some of the training that is going on there. now it is no csi but the lessons being taught to iraqi police officers will eventually help solve crimes, which are plentiful in iraq.

the classes of students ranged in age from the the high forties to just over twenty. i was most impressed by how willing the men were to being interviewed by western media and how the reasons given for serving were not financially motivated but rather duty to their neighbors and pride in iraq, the new iraq.

the iraqi police certainly have a huge job ahead of them but each day the police make great strides in protecting the people. All of the classes at the college are now taught by iraqis and any role we play is purely support to ensure they have the right tools for modern policing.

in a country were the average day claims 100 civilian lives, the police are not in an enviable position. but iraq can be proud of these officers for their dedication and bravery.

christmas in baghdad

oddly enough christmas in baghdad is just like any other day only without the work. the joke about being here is that you feel like the movie "groundhog day." every day is the same and you are so stuck in your routine that the cycle continues until you depart for home. i am determined to avoid the groundhog day effect.

the sites were the same and i even made it into the office to check some email and talk with colleagues but otherwise i spent time with a few friends and have had the most uneventful (and this is a good thing) christmas ever.

for lunch the dining facility was decked out in a variety of holiday decorations, officers served the meals, a live band led the hall in carols and there was enough food to feed, well an army! I stuck with the lobster and turkey with stuffing, mac and cheese and a cup of eggnog. but it gets better; i took my meal out to the pool for a little poolside, sun warming christmas lunch.

the best part is that i didn't have to clean up a thing.

so that is christmas in baghdad. i find myself now in my trailer and it is a little after 9:00pm, the heater is on and i am ready to curl up with a good book and hit the hay before another work day tomorrow. as our security team says, "feliz navidad" be blessed this christmas.

history can be boring

now i am not talking about ancient athenian history or other classes you take in college. i am talking about real live history in the making; the sort of thing you witness up close and personal.

i am always telling my friends to make history but i rarely tell them to just sit there and be part of history. yesterday that is exactly what i did. along with a few colleagues from the public affairs sections i arrived to the baghdad convention center bright and early to be transported to the saddam trial, a trial that i would watch live and in person all day.

of course this is not the first saddam trial. the first one ended months ago and resulted in his death sentence, but until that is carried out (after appeal) saddam has to face the court with other defendants (chemical ali being one) for other charges. this case involves the anfal massacre where kurds were slaughtered under the guise of the iranian war.

saddam looks like you would imagine from the television. he is very sullen and cold. you almost feel sorry for the defendants until you are reminded of the hate that brews inside of them and the record they have accrued.

the trial yesterday though centered on submitting documents proving military orders into the record. unlike the american court system here defendants have an opportunity to speak on there own behalf and they did just that until 6:30pm.

i would like to say that my arabic is so good that i had no need of a translator but thankfully the court had headsets available and the chairs where quite comfortable. i assure you that everyone in my group took at least one nap during the day!

so that was history. saddam spoke once and for only a brief moment. but there he was, the deposed dictator in a cage 30 feet from me. it is history and it was boring.