Baghdad American Embassy Rec Center

I thought some photos of the rec facilities at the new embassy compound would be of interest.

You may have hear that we were trying to move some people into the New Embassy Compound apts. well, some of us made it. and, herewith, some interior photos of the apt.

Donuts in Baghdad

The donuts are not bad. I've had better, Krispy Kreme still remains the best for cream filled, of course. But, give DoJo's its due - the dough is not overly chewy, and the galze is quite good. They'll need to work on the recipe, or preparing the batter or letting it rise more before fyring, but all in all, a decent donut - and for Baghdad, that is saying something. Oh, and for those of you who have endured KBR donuts, you'll not be surprised to learn, these are better. And, a convenient location near the NEC.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/37418.html

Baghdad Sandstorms

Go the link for a view of the situation of sandstorms. It will give you some grave understanding of why we do not like sandstorms here.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4KNyMOz6DqU59BdgdyCEVTG1NEw

Rocketing the International zone

As you have likely learned by now, the International Zone (IZ), in which is located the American Embassy compound as well as other diplomatic missions and Iraqi government facilities, has suffered numerous rocket or mortar attacks since Easter Sunday, March 23. On Sunday there were some injuries of u.s. personnel; one of the injured later died in hospital (Requiescat in Pacem). On tuesday and today, there were more injuries. As bad if not worse, many of the rockets or mortars targeted at the IZ have gone off target or overflwon the IZ and impacted residences in other parts of Baghdad, killing more than a dozen innocent civilians. evidently, the terrorists care as little for the lives of fellow Iraqis as they do for foreigners' lives.

There is, of course, increased tnsion in the IZ to include the Embassy, but spirits and morale remain high in the face of the attacks. we are all working diligently to support each other and to get our jobs done even with the interruptions that come. whether this is a spike (temporary) or an uptick (indefinite) in violence is hard to know at this point. hope springs eternal.

Keep all of us here in your prayers, good thoughts, and karmanic wavelengths. seriously, pray for the safety of all those who serve the cause of freedom over here, iraqi, american, brit, or others.

Tennis at the New Embassy Compound

Since July 2007, tennic courts have been completed at the New Embassy Compound. There are also several outdoor baskball courts, a baseball diamon (need grass), a soccer pitch (same issue), and an indoor pool (i'm guessing that was in the plans as the competition pool for the American Embassy school. yes, a school was planned. (you know the country song: "what was I thinkin'?")
well, the courts are playable, but they are in bad shape already. the seams between the underlying sections of concrete, or maybe it is between the overlay of composite asphalt+ material, are prominent. this is apparently water damage. very typical project - provide somehting useful for morale and welfare, then let it sit unused. sort of like getting computers but not delivering them to users for several months.
so who gets to play on these courts. for operational security reasons, i cannot answer that. but, suffice it to say that all these facilities are sitting there unused. it now appears that only those who move into the New Embassy Compound residential facilities will be able to regularly access the facilities, lest some of us decide to stay in our trailers walking distance from work instead of shuttling from the NEC residences to work. the shuttling is a major dis-incentive for many, but if you deny easy accesss to the morale, welfare, and recreation facilities there unless you reside there, you increase the incentive for people to move there. that sounds very conspiratorial to me. silly, of course the embassy management wants to encourage all embassy personnel to use teh New facility, to build comraderie, and not create two classes of Embassy employees, the NECsters and the Trailer trash. silly of me to think for a nano-second otherwise.
well, given the reports on the building project, i may be back in the u.s. before this really becomes a segregationist issue. for more on the embassy project and its delays and problems, see the hearings help by Congresman Henry Waxman.

Happy Anniversary

5 years in Operation Iraqi Freedom Given the impatience of the American people, it is truly amazing that we have lasted this long. I understand that Barack Obama said this war was longer than WWII. well, longer than American participation in WWII - we entered WWII 2 years and 3 months after it had begun. in total, it was just a few weeks shy of 6 years. Does the senator need a history lesson?

Speaking of senators, we had Levin of Michigan, Lieberman of Connecticut, Graham of South Carolina, and McCain of Arizona here. good visits. good messages. busy busy place - then the VP was here and visiting up north in the Kurdish autonomous region.

the twentieth of march this year, Gregorian or common calendar, is the first day of the Iranian/Kurdish/Turkic calendar, birthday of Muhammad in the Muslim calendar, Purim in the Hebrew calendar, and Maundy Thursday in the Christian calendar. Not all these dates fell on the exactly same 24 hour period, but close enough that here we are focused on all of them. Iraqis had a public holiday for the Prophet’s birthday, but Maundy Thursday and Purim got little coverage. The small Christian communities here are divided between Western and Eastern observance of Easter, so for westerners, it is Maundy or Holy Thursday but for Easterners it is another 5 weeks. Why all Christians don’t celebrate Easter at the same time as Passover I’ll not quite figure out - given that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, this would seem to make sense.

Now I’m listening to BBC criticize the United States and the UK for creating the refugee “crisis” in Jordan and Syria. Ahh, right, I see, the refugees who fled Iraq because fellow Iraqis were killing them or threatening them with death had nothing to do with it. Or is it that maybe Al-Qaeda’s efforts to foment sectarian hatred were successful, that Sunni attacked Shia, the Shia returned the favor and off the rfeugees went to escape retribution. Or, maybe it was the Shia deciding to kill Sunnis who they saw as the supporters of Saddam. Hmmm, maybe many of the refugees in Jordan and Syria are Saddamists and Baathists who are not welcome in Iraq now. Many of the most-favored former regime members who escaped are now in Jordan and Syria because as Sunni they are welcome, and as Baathists, they are welcome in Syria.

So, how is it here after 5 years? Well, compared to what? Compared to a year ago? Compared to the day after Saddam’s fall? Or maybe we should compare it to the days of Saddam’s rule? The days when people were dropped into shredders for offending Qusay or Uday? Or the days of gassing of Kurds? Or the days of war against Iran? Or death sentences for minor slights against Saddam? The days of Qusay taking girls away from their families for a few days and returning them when he was finished with them? So, let’s compare the situation now to the days of Saddam, the days when the elite were the supporters of Saddam, and the rest of the population had little, except fear and abuse.

So, five years on, was it worth it? Was it worth over 4,000 dead coalition soldiers and many thousands wounded? All the Iraqis who died who might not have died? Well, I guess that depends on whether you thought it fine for the world for a dictator as brutal and vicious as Saddam to continue rather than risk pain and suffering to undo his regime, let him continue or stop his payments to suicide bombers in Palestine and Israel, despair of or hope for democratic governance in Arab states, oppose or support open societies, seek or not care about integrating Arab countries into the global community. Worth it? Yeap. Necessary? Yeap. Overdue? Yeap. Difficult? Yes, but the best things in life are as difficult as they are rare. True freedom is rare, and it is rare.

5th anniversary and visitors

We've just had a visit from 4 senators and one vice-president. All of this occurs over a very short period of time - our poor management and logistics people were run ragged. By now the news is out in the press: senators Levin, McCain, Lieberman, and Graham were here followed by the v-p.

At the same time, the bad guys have decided it's a good time to launch more rockets, mortars, and suicide bomb attacks. It is difficult to tell if this is a last, desperate gasp or if it is they are stronger than most of us believed. But after five years, no one is going to say that the terrorists are finished, much as we wish they were.

Check out the recent abc/bbc/ard/nhk poll on security and other issues in Iraq. It's fascinating stuff. Not a rosy picture, but an indication that things are improving. Very useful a few weeks before the Ambassador and General Petraeus testify on progress before Congress in April.

Lazy Ed

Well, I'm really getting tired of writing things on Faceboook, then in emails, then on the blogs. Which means, being preternaturally lazy, I don't do any since I have so many to do. So, now I'll compose my personal journal, then cut and paste into the aforementioned spaces. Check back later today for more.
EgSinBaghdad

Dust Storms

We have massive dust storms over the past few days. serious stuff - it stopped the aircraft from flying. think about that one a bit - u.s. military aircraft stopped due to weather. this is a big deal - some times we are talking about helo. medevacs stopped for weather - that is not a good thing.

it lasted about 3 days, and reminded me of the harmattan in west africa. a good reminder of our limitations in the face of nature.

work rolls on, embassy housing remains up in the air, cease-fire with some groups seems to be continuing, fractures inside the bad guys continue.

speaking of bad guys, follow the link to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle reminding the New York Times that good journalism requires checking your facts before sullying the reputation of a presidential candidate. to think i would ever say anything postive about something in the SFC - the mind boggles. I'm also a major fan of Senator McCain, having had breakfast with him over three days during his visit in august, 2002 to Romania.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/22/EDJUV6KCB.DTL

Musings on Europe and Islam

First, apologies for all the typos and spelling errors in my previous post. I really do need to use that spell checker.

I thought you might want to see this article (see link below) really a short lecture, delivered by Bernard Lewis, Professor at Princeton (tough for me, a Penn guy, to mention that, but, truth in "advertising"....). I have been reading and admiring Lewis's history of islam since 1977 - in 30 years he has only gotten better. The attached is a bit different, more an estimative analysis. Not really the domain of an historian, but it frames nicely much of what we are now about in the opening of the 21st century, 14th if you favor Islamic calendars.

http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.25815,filter.all/pub_detail.asp

oh, and here is the link to the Vanity Fair article about our new Mega Embassy.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/langewiesche200711
cheers, Ed

Baghdad crud and the new embassy

Sorry for the absence. I came down with the Baghdad crud. Actually, a bit of bronchitis and the flue at the same time. so much for the flue shot, eh? the downside to the 4 days of aches, pains, sniffles, coughing, etc. (and you don't want the details on the etc.) is that it was followed by 2 weeks of continuing coughing spells. the doc here says that was to be expected - my bronchi became hyper sensitive during the illness and it will be sometime until they get better. the dust,and all sorts of nasty stuff floating in the air (and you really don't want the details on that) also contribute. most everyone here is coughing a fair bit; I'm just doing it way above average (see mom, i am above average). it is very annoying as the coughing fit comes on if a speak at length. yes, loquacious ed brought down by post-bronchitic cough.

if you missed it, just yesterday, Friday, the Muslim day of prayer and rest, the Al-Qaeda bastards detonated two suicide bombers in the pets markets here in Baghdad. if the initial reports are true, these beast (Osama and his ilk) strapped suicide vests onto two mentally handicapped women, sent them into the pet market, then detonated their vests from a safe distance. they chose the pet market and on a friday as it gets the maximum number of women and children, moms take kids to pet markets on the day off. charming evil bastards those AQI types, eh?

did a tour of the new embassy compound. you can read much about it in a vanity fair article of some months ago, but ed's scoop: nice apartments, good office space, lots of creature comforts unheard of at most embassies (indoor pool, gyms, weight/exercise room, concession space for burger king, etc., etc..) but, as we cannot go out and shop on the local economy s we would normally do, well, everything must be provided inside the hardened structures where we'll live and work. sucha shame - most people in the foreign service like to get out with the locals - shopping in the souk, buying brochettes from street vendors in conakry, water from vendors in the djma il fna in marrakesh, etc. but, to keep us safe, we'll here be behind the walls and isolated away fromt he populace - rather self-defeaating of public diplomacy efforts.

still, it is a nice complex, though the line of site babyon hotel and nearby apartment complex will give snipers a great opportunity - though they'd likely get to do that only once, and not live to regret it.

still cold, bracing morning, chilly nights, sunny but nippy middays.

keep those cards and letters coming. and yes, the surge, or the change in tactics that necessitated the surge, is working.

Back in the IZ (Green Zone)

Seems the WP decided to do a piece on life in the IZ. It is well-worth reading. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010404125.html

i would not agree with many of the dtails, but the general tone is correct - the embassy has moved from a place where campaign youngsters were building democracy in Iraq between dance parties to a place where seasoned professionals work diligently with Iraqis to help them re-build their country, establish the rule of law, revitalize the economy, and re-awaken ethnic and communal tolerance. if our expectations are lower, that is because we are more realistic. as a student of history, including araba nationalism in the the inter-war years, I know a bit about how difficult a slog it is/will be for the the Iraqis to develop a society and political system appropriate to the nation and of service to all their people. it won't be the work of weeks or months, but years.

on a different note, it snowed this morning in Baghdad. yes, it snowed here on the banks of the tigris. no accumulation and no real effects on the population. it is cold here now, down into freezing overnight, and overcast and chilly during the day. i imagine our peruvian guards are familiar with these conditions if they are from certain areas in Lima or higher elevations of Peru.

Rest and Recuperation Travel

Each of us assigned by State to the Embassy gets 3 R&Rs/year, or, 2 longer R&Rs and three shorter Regional Rest Breaks. I don't know why it is called rest and recuperation - given the effort to get it done, it should be called sleep removal and reduction. The toughest part of these R&Rs is getting out and back to Baghdad, due to security concerns. I won't go into details, that would be poor operational security, but suffice it to say that for us, it took 53 hours from leaving our residence at the Embassy compound in Baghdad to the airport in Philadelphia. the largest single leg was from our residence in Baghdad to Amman, Jordan. Of course, traveling in a sleigh pulled by only one reindeer is slow going, but the other reindeer were in training for Christmas eve service.

We arrived in the states in time to participate in the Christmas, XMAS for you non-Christians (see “Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus” in God in the Dock collected essays by C.S. Lewis) , preparations, buying, shopping, giving, receiving, eating, drinking, reveling, etc. as required/expected/desired. Midnight Mass was great - first one that i've been to in years, but I very much missed being with the small catholic community in baghdad on Christmas - a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-ritual mass was planned.

Jet lag - I've always had a harder time adjusting to the time change caused by flying west versus flying east. I find myself falling asleep at 5 in the afternoon, then rising at 1 am. gradually, i stay up later and rise at the normal hour of 6 am. but, it takes several days. going east, it takes about a day, maybe two, to re-set my personal/bio clock.

Two weeks to our return to baghdad, and I'm already dreading the travel. Time to get ebooks to read along the way!

Visitors, visitors, visitors

"Tis the season for the visits
fah la la la la, la la la la"

We had the deputy secretary of state with a small entourage. well, entourage is a stretch - he had a few staff people. of course, lots of security. but, still , with only a few staff people, it was not an entourage.

he traveled all over the country and made a great impression on everyone. i made a point of shaking his hand and tanking him for his work - and for awarding me a degree at the JMIC a few years ago.
he is a quite impressive career public servant - one i hope to emulate in many ways.

next. on the 18th of December, the day Nancy and i were going on our first r&r, the secretary herself arrived. a short visit, but she took the time to say hello to the "troops". well, really it was the troops, since most of the State dpt. types could not find a place in the hall for her meet-and-greet, so we moved on to other things so CR could have her photos with the ethnically, racially, sex, and age balanced group of soldiers, sailors, airmen/women and marines. hmm, maybe we should call them airers to avoid the execrable airmen/women?

of course, there are always a lot of visitors to Baghdad at the Christmas season. all the political leaders come to show their support for the troops. some, let's be honest, not everyone is kind and other-centered, come to win votes back in the states. both are disruptive. yes, it is important to show support for the troops, and i think those fighting outside the wire, facing death regularly, appreciate the gesture. still, maybe a real day off with no visitors at all, but just a day, be it thanksgiving day or be it Christmas, when all one has to do is give thanks or contemplate the birth of the God the Son as a baby would be better than visitors.

Merry Christmas!

Baghdad Winds

the wind was whipping the tarpaulins in the international zone today. gusts of upt to 15 mph. marvelous. i've always loved weather. any weather - i'm eclectic in my taste for climate-expressions. rain, fog, sun, wind - all can be enjoyed.

last night, the wind was making the trailer we call home rock a little bit. yes, it was rocking because of the wind.

this morning, a few sprinkles of light rain mixed with the ongoing wind. then, by about noon time, the wind picked up and was tossing around the tarpaulins that cover the stacks of sandbags. at one point, walking to my trailer, had the other trailers on my right, stacks of sandbags on my left, and the tarpaulin over me, whipping in the wind. reminded me of the fabric covers over the narrow streets in Toledo, Spain used for the Corpus Christi processions with the consecrated host in the monstrance.

it gets scarier though: an old hand, someone who had been here in 2005, regaled me and one of the sr. embassy officers with a story of the windstorms/sandstorms he had experienced. at times, he said, the sandstorm and wind was so intense, the horizon was obscured and that sand and dust swirled inside the tightly sealed buildings. now, the dust here is so bad, you need to use a Swiffer (R) every few hours if you are serious about keeping things clean. but the thought of all that dust and sand blowing around at gale force, getting inside the tightly sealed boxes we call home - well yuck! of course, the best is that at times the rain joins with the sandstorms, rarely, to rain mud. sounds great, eh. "I'm singin' in the mudrain, just singin' in the mud..." catchy.

remember - comments welcome; questions too.

Rainy night in Baghdad

It's a raingy night in Baghdad,
Rainy night in Baghdad,
some times, I feel like it's rainin'
all ovah the world.

We now move from the season of dust, to the season of mud.

I'll need new shoes when I leave here, in fact, i'll need new everything just about.
Laundry is hard on the clothes, dry-cleaning is harder on the suits, and the shoe leather cracks from the dryness, or gets filled with dust and then disintegrates.

minor inconveniences in a relative sense.

Thanksgiving Day at the Embassy Annex

Well, Thanksgiving Day here was marvelous. It really was almost a day off. I did have to go and take notes at a high-level meeting, but what's two hours out of a holiday for the good of the Republic? Everyone in the office I'm in and a few spouses (also Embassy personnel) got together for Thanksgiving Feast - tablecloths on two wooden picnic table cum benches under a canopy next to the pool - food courtesy of KBR and the U.S. taxpayer. Great stuff, though I missed the cranberries in the stuffing (or filling as we Philly natives call it). And, several bottles of fine Lebanese wine accompanied the feast, so the holiday spirit and giving of thanks was in full swing. See atttached menu (if I figured out how to do that) Fortunately, the shelling, InDirectFire (IDF) did not start until we were at the coffee following the dessert course. Unfortunately, several Iraqis in the International Zone (aka the green zone) and one foreign guard qwere injured - no deaths in that barrage though, thank God for small favors! Only the touch football at the park or on the front/back lawn with family and relatives was missing. But at my age, i'd likely have gotten a cracked rib or two, so better to stop that "rough touch" football.