Iraq - Week 2 Update

Well I've been on the ground for two weeks now and it's been interesting. As the local UN military advisor my job is to liaison between the UN and the local US military forces. Much of this work is fairly routine but requires a security clearance, which the UN folks don't have. Once the main part of the US forces leave over the summer I'm not sure how much there will be for me to do. I can't really interact with the Iraqi military and under the current conditions since it’s pretty difficult to travel around here.

The part of the base we're on is the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) compound. The UN occupies three trailers at one end of the PRT compound, which in itself is tucked away on the far end of the base. The PRT is a combined State Department/military entity. Later this year the PRT will convert into a US Consulate. When this happens I will probably shift to being a liaison between the UN and the Consulate since they will be the source of much of the support we have been receiving from the US military. There are a ton of ins, outs, and what have yous with this whole situation here and no one seems to really know how it's all going to play out, and quite likely, we won't until it actually does.

Overall Basrah living is relatively cushy; we've got internet, TV, our own wet CHUs (containerized housing units), and a bar that's open one night a week. Since I'm not technically attached to USF-I (US Forces Iraq) I don't fall under General Order #1 (which prohibits US military members in Iraq from consuming alcohol) and can therefore drink. The UN workday is pretty relaxed and I usually don't have all that much to do on a day-to-day basis. Plus there isn't any impetus to just sit around in the office and pretend to work like there is at a normal military job where you’re supposed to make a whole kabuki theater about how hard you’re working. When I got here I only had about 12 hours of turnover, so I've spent the past couple of weeks more or less making stuff up as I go along. In other words, pretty much ops normal for me.

I went on my first helo ride in a long time the other day. It made me really miss flying and literally start aching to get back into the cockpit. The flight was short though since our destination wasn't that far away from base. Basrah is more or less what you might imagine in your head an Iraqi city might be like: flat, sand brown, and ramshackle. None of the buildings were very tall and most of the ones I saw on the flight were pretty beat down. It's pretty obvious not much money has been put back into infrastructure or development. one of the unfortunately effects of having a bunch of whackjob terrorists keeping government money tied up in providing security, corruption, and scaring investors away. Even the facility we were at looked like the war had just ended and it had just been taken over and put back into use. You would have thought at some point in the past 6-7 years somebody would have at least slapped on some new stucco and painted inside. Nope. There were still bullet holes all over the outside and peeling plaster everywhere. And I won't even tell you about the bathrooms, you don't even want to know. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to be around some Iraqi military and police I can say this: if you’re going to dye your hair, you should probably also dye your mustache and vice versa. There were more than a few jet black heads of hair with salt and pepper mustaches and a few jet black mustaches with salt and pepper hair. And even though I know that it’s common for Middle Eastern men to hold hands while they’re walking together, it’s still weird to see them doing it, especially in uniform.

Dead Sea

Even More Pics From Amman

More Pics from Amman

Some thoughts about Amman

- The weather when we arrived was almost cold. It was fairly chilly out and many people were in jackets and long sleeves. We definitely weren’t expecting cool weather. It started getting warm towards the end of the week we were there, but we did wear light jackets and whatnot in the mornings.

- There are watermelons being sold on the side of the road pretty much everywhere. The watermelon skins are so dark in color they’re almost black, which looks kinda weird. They also have a lot of small-ish bananas.

- The coffee you tend to get is very rich, strong Turkish-style coffee; more or less like espresso but very sweet since they load it up with sugar.

- There are several types of police & security forces all over town. For the most part they appear to be fairly well trained and they’re definitely well equipped. All their uniforms and gear is new and in good condition and the police have new Audi police cars. All the various forces exude the appearance of being very competent and professional. Traffic laws appear to be both enforced and followed, and I saw several speed traps and red light cameras throughout the area.

- Construction is going on everywhere, which from the outset appears to be a sign of a thriving economy. However when you take a second look, you’ll notice many of those construction projects have stalled at some level of completion. So what you really notice is that there are a large number of half completed buildings just stagnating, and many of them have obviously been idle for some time. Because of all the unfinished construction, there are piles of rubble all over.

- Goats & sheep are being herded all over the place, even right inside the city. If there is a spare patch of brush anywhere in the city, there is probably a goat herd chewing on it. This causes some interesting traffic situations because a heard of goats or sheep may pop up in the most unlikely areas of the city

- One of the things that stood out right away was the general lack trash in the streets. In a place like this you’d expect there to be litter and trash all over the place but the streets are kept relatively clean. After a couple of days when we were driving to our training in the morning, we noticed many work crews picking up trash. Apparently there is a concerted effort to keep the streets clear of trash, and you’ll even see business owners sweeping in front of their stores, and people cleaning up outside their houses. But once you start getting towards the outskirts of town, the trash starts to pile up. Eventually you get far enough out where it looks like you’d expect with rubble and trash all over the place.

- Because everything is made out of the same monotone desert tan brick, everything looks shabby and drab even though the structures themselves may be modern and clean.

Amman, Jordan