A Diary from Iraq*
11/05/04
Well I just finished dinner (nice local dishes, expertly prepared by our fine cooks, plus some beer and wine, all paid for of course), during which my big Russian friend informed me of a few things he heard on Russian news.
Firsty, Saddam is not in Baghdad but the US im told and secondly, Bin Laden has been captured and Bush is awaiting a more suitable time for the elections to announce it. Seeing my doubts old mate Alex claimed the same news also reported Saddams capture two weeks before US news.
So if it is true remember: you heard it from me first. If it is bullshit just forget I said anything.
I think yesterday I actually came pretty close to buying the farm. We were doing a run to the PX and DHL and the local gun dealer. Departure time was meant to be 9.30 sharp but we ended up faffing around. We left at about 11. At about 9.45, on the same route we took, a Kiwi and a Southafrican got killed. A couple others got shot and I think a poor old Iraqi driver copped it too (but thats hardly newsworthy). Nice one eh? that could have so easily been me if i wasent resting after a massive breakfast.
Since that i have coined the term: the early PSD catches the IED.
Speaking of the dead Iraqi. Some people here go on a lot about some things that surprise and disgust them: Firstly the fact that the insergents, milita, Ali Baba's whatever you want to call them dont just arc up a platoon and then stand around getting destroyed by 25mm. This makes them 'cowards'. Ambushing is 'cowardly and weak' (also effective) because they dont wait around to get shot like a real man would. It is funny how quickly legitimate tactics of one army are cowardly when used by the enemy.
The second thing that is amusing to hear is when people go on about the local guards just drop their weapons and run in a firefight. It is funny because we keep telling them that they are there to be killed, that they are cannon fodder, that they can get together in a soft skinned vehicle and go check some place out and let us know if its safe for us to arrive in armour. "You'll be right, your a local", they don't agree.
Now if my boss was paying me less a month than he makes in a morning, and tells me repeatedly im mearly a lowly paid bullet catcher then in a fight id fuck off too! The problem is, some people don't realise that there is no safety in being Iraqi. It actually doubles your chance of being shot, cos if the yanks see you cruising up to thier base in a local car carrying an AK (doing a recce for us) there is a fairly good chance that they open up before you can show them your weapons permit, and some islamic extremist is not going to like you, let alone not fire if you are there, because you work for the infidel. They don't all live in thier no-running-water-and-only-two-hours-of-electricity a day houses feeling safe, they are shitscared! They aren't stupid either. During a lesson on tactics we were telling them they can do the recce's covertly, in local cars. They asked what happens when 'ali baba' starts to recognise the car. The guy running the lesson ummed and ahhd for a while and then cracked some joke about muslims. There was no laughter. They are more worried about getting hit that us. Probably because they have familys and no life insurance.
So I told them if they are alert enough no one would fuck with them because there are easy targets out there and mr milita is scared too.
I hope im right, cos they are driving me up north tomorrow is a nice cosy local soft skinned vehicle on the route no whitey drives except in armour, except of course the people that have been doing it every day for months. I'm telling you, its a wierd place and everyone had their own crazy ideas about safety.
09/05/04
I am in Kirkuk now and there is internet. My work here is training locals in something which I only learnt two weeks ago myself. I'm not sure how I will enjoy it here yet, but its interesting and that is what is most important at the moment. Being the third place I have been to it is amazing at the differences. Its like I have been to 3 countries and worked for 3 companies. Erbil has been the best, definately. I hope I get back that way because the guys here seem to think that I am here to stay, but they said in Erbil that I would be here for a month and then go to Sulimaniya.
I am working with a Kiwi and Brit and a Russian. It is great to talk to the Russian guy because Spetznaz is generally considered to be even more full on than the foreign legion, and from what he has said, it is.
Also interesting for me is the differences with the way the locals are viewed and treated in each place. In Baghdad they speak very little english and are not trusted or understood at all. The senior guys consdider the locals to be extremely stupid, which of course accounts for their inexplicable behaviour. They are also considered to be lazy.
In Erbil the relationship is closer, the background of the local guards is known to all and everyone is on a first name basis. Also there is a much more in-depth understanding of the Kurdish culture. The local guards are typically fluent in English, well spoken and highly educated. Many, if not most have bachelour degrees in anything from engineering to law. They are working as armed security because it pays three times as much as working as an educated professional (US$350 a month compared to $100). The overall feeling in Erbil is very much like old friends at a backpacking hostel, that have stayed long enough to be on very good terms with the staff. It probably helps that the villa is within a small suburb of christians within the Kurdish town.
Here in Kirkuk, the locals are a mix of Christian and Muslim, Kurd and Arab. They are not trusted to the same degree but are given more responsibility.
We are training 10 to basically do our job, side by side with us. Their backgrounds are not known as well but several are definately very intelligent and have grasped important tactical considerations that i've seen guys with 20 years in the army still not get. They all have a great sense of humour.
We get waited on here hand and foot, I have a large room with a double bed and a fridge with cable tv and internet, which gets made up like a hotel room every day. We get served meals in a dining hall, and if your not quick enough they will take you plate away for you. They take your washing and do it, returning it ironed at the end of the day and tidy the room as well. As a lazy bastard all this is great, but as a human I feel that its terrible that this once noble people have been reduced to serving an invading race in this way.
Once people find out you are Australian they are very interested, they have all heard good things, and very, very wrong things. They think that any Aussie can just vouch for them and its no problem for them to immigrate. I explained the facts but I don't think they believed me.
Its strange to hear the immigration issue at the source, to see why people pick Australia above others to come to. They all know that if you just show up you will be locked up but they don't realise that with a valid passport you can arrive as a tourist. They think you get arrested at the airport and taken to a detention centre. I explained the facts and they just shrugged their sholders and said 'theres no government to give us passports'. I honestly had never considered the problems that that causes and the doors that closes. I had always taken my passport for granted.
08/05/04
Imagine the best backpackers you have ever been to. Combine that with Hotel like service. Its all free. You wear runners, a singlet, shorts and carry a gun in a bumbag. The town is friendly and there is scenic mountains nearby and the worlds oldest citadel. There are several restuarants, many bars, lots of danish beer and the weather is perfect.
The lifestyle is relaxed and the local food is great. There is a bar with a pool and a grass volleyball court. That is Erbil.
I just volunteered to leave it to go to Kirkuk, which is generally regarded to be shit, you are locked in a compound and there is nothing to see but oilfields. Someone had to go so I said I would for 4 weeks. Im stupid.
Well I heard there is no internet down there, and I heard that there is, so if you don't hear from me for 4 weeks I'm not dead (unless you see on the news that Kirkuk has been overrun with no survivors).
If I don't get screwed and get to come back here ill let you know if the first impression lasts, but honestly if sipping tea out of a china cup whilst eating eggs on freshly baked bread, sitting on nice furniture in a clover patch with the sun just bringing the temperature from 18-28 after a good session of pt can get tiresome then I think there is something wrong. Did I mention the only up and coming stress of the day was which pre BC gold coin to buy from the local antique dealer?
If your not over here already and you have the qualsto come, get here. Iraq has it all. There is history and scenery, war, money, good food, you name it. You dont even have to combine them all depending on which part of the country you go to.
Until I can write again.
02/05/04
Nothing, Most of us are in Kuwait deciding on the plan since it all flared up here. They should have sorted it out and come back by now.
My company is to scared to let us drive and having trouble organising flights to get us out of Baghdad. Im very keen to get out and see some of the place. It now looks like I will be going north to Erbil and then on to Sulimanya (I think thats how you spell it) which is all Kurdish and very quiet but also very scenic. Most people like the Kurds here and say Erbil is great.
I definately want to go there but the impression i get is I am the only one itching to get out of Badhdad at the moment. They managed to get two guys south to Hillah yesterday. We were meant to get some guys today but they are still in Kuwait. I guess getting paid to plan in the Sheraton is better than working in Iraq for some people. I will call you tonight. Actually i will call you now,
27/04/04
I am writing from my laptop in Baghdad, I got a wireless internet card and now I have free broadband from anywhere near where I work. It is no where near as dangerous as I imagined here, and the green zone in baghdad is safer than most suburbs in Sydney.
It just got dangerous for a few weeks before I came. As a result the companies were restructuring and lost a few places when they pulled out to looters.
The international nature of some of these companies means you have Serbs talking to French in broken English and all kinds of languages getting used.
I am currently living in an office due to the unusually large number of people in Baghdad. I will be hopefully heading out at the end of this week to Basra or Hilla which are both in the south (I think) I would love to go to Tikrit, in fact I would love to travel the whole country, and with luck I will.
There was some fighting yesterday nearby, some American special forces got blown up during the raid of a building. Mostly I hear stuff from int updates that are sent to the company. I haven't seen much myself.
The culture clashes and the results are entertaining enough for me at the moment, some are pretty bad others are just surprising. No amount of US media driven stereotypes prepared me for actually being here and noticing things myself. I think if you would come here you would find this place very interesting.
One thing that amazes me is the bizarre relationship between us and the CPA. I doubt there will ever be a time in the world again when so many (15-20,000) civilians will be able to walk around armed with anything acting with impunity, under the eye of an occupying force.
We are collectively the second largest force in iraq at the moment, second only to the Americans, and we have no rules of engagement, no restriction on weapons carried, we can go to any part of the country and we essentially answer to no one as the CPA has too much on its hands to even attempt to regulate us.
I have a mobile phone over here. I can't sms and no one outside of Iraq can call me but I can call out for about US50cents a minute, so send me you landline number and I will give you guys a call.
Ok well i am going for a run before dinner so I will leave you with that.
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