Christian Isely, MS 03
Baghdad, Iraq
Baghdad Dispatch #11
June 29, 2004
Well, the handover already happened. I heard about it over lunch yesterday. Has much changed? It is hard to say. For now, it is difficult to determine who answers to who in the organizational structure of the whole mission. For instance, the Program Management Office has now changed names to the Project and Contracting Office and we are now answerable to the State Department and the Department of Defense. How will that work out? Who knows? Everyone is staking out territory and the DOD and DOS are the biggest players. The danger is that government infighting may hamper the mission.
And what about sovereignty? Legally, I am now in a sovereign country albeit with tremendous foreign influence. I will have to ask my Iraqi coworkers about their ideas on the notion when they come back to work. For now, many of them are staying home to wait out the next couple days.
There are a few visible signs of change. Security has been increased significantly and a few Iraqi flags have now gone up around the Green Zone.
Since the handover, things have been eerily quite here in the Green Zone. The previous few days have seen mortars land close to our office and living areas. An Iraqi electrician was hit by one and killed outside our compound as he was heading to work in the morning. However, we have continued our work undaunted.
I hired an assistant this week. She, like many Iraqi workers in the Green Zone, must come in from the Red Zone. Her perspective on danger is far removed from that of yours truly. Today, I was showing her some of our files when a mortar hit about 100 yards from our building. (Fortunately, no one was hurt.) As the boom resounded through the building, myself and one of my coworkers dove under our desks. My assistant didn't even move. After crawling out from under my desk, I asked her if she was all right. She said she was fine and was used to all the explosions. Then she cheerily said, "Now I want to get back to work Mr. Chris". (All the locals attach Mr. to the first name of the expats - I guess in a show of respect.) She wasn't even phased. Later, she talked about what a beautiful day it was. (The outside temperature was over 100 degrees farenheit.)
Another woman who works for us was injured in the big car bomb attack on the Assassin's Gate this past January while she was on her way to work. She was laid up in a hospital for over a month but still insisted on working for the Coalition in the Green Zone.
I had Friday off again last week and this time I took a tour of Saddam Hussein's parade grounds and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with a friend from work. The whole complex was built during the Iran-Iraq War. I took my digital video camera and grabbed some pretty nice pics. I will try to send some out when I get a chance. On both ends of the parade route, a pair of arms rise from the ground and cross swords in a great arch. Iranian helmets are piled by paved into the road to serve as speed bumps as one drives under the swords. Another way to humiliate your enemy? Some of them have bullet holes. I gave my camera to a guard while his partner led us down into the ground and up inside one of the arms. After climbing up several ladders at weird angles, we reached an open space where I stuck out my head. The guard down below got a picture.
We then moved on to the grandstands overlooking the Parade Route. An old guard with an AK-47 took us on a tour. The walls were covered in graffiti by American soldiers. "I love you MOM" was a common phrase. At one point, as my friend was filming me talking to the guard, the guard pulled his gun on me from a few yards away. I jumped back rather startled and the man laughed. He was just pulling my leg. Still, pointing weapons at people is far from a laughing matter. My adrenaline quota was met for the next year.
Later, he had us pose with the AK-47 on Saddam's stand in the grandstands. Now that was surreal. I wonder if they will tear the whole thing down. It certainly cannot bring back good memories.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was also an experience. The entire structure looks like Space Mountain at Disneyland or something out of a 70's science fiction movie. A guard took us up to the casket and down underneath the tomb where swords hung from a central column. The guard pointed at strange packages on the column and said, "C-F, C-F!". At first I thought he meant C-4 but later was relieved to hear that he was probably referring to the swords. He also gave me an entire booklet of admission tickets to the tomb as a kind of souvenir.
Regarding ongoing progress of our program, we contributed some work on the Accelerated Iraqi Reconstruction Program which funded public works projects in the Sunni Triangle. One achievement so far has been the employment of about 1,400 Iraqis. Our other projects are moving along and groundbreaking ceremonies should begin next month. Progress is occurring. Not as fast as desired but we are moving along.
Christian