D-day

As I type, we're crowded around the bank of TVs in our office watching the start of Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker's presentation to the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Although I don't think anyone is expecting huge surprises out of this testimony, this is a big deal for us -- all of our work has revolved around this day for at least six weeks. It's hard to describe how I feel watching this: I'm bizarrely nervous, as if this is a referendum on our work, not just the military's. In some ways it is -- Ike Skelton just cited something I wrote this morning (no mention of my name), and a lot of our work is likely to come up in discussion. Political developments over the next several days or weeks could also determine the course of my company's work in the long term.

I also am nervous that there will be too much political infighting and not enough discussion about how the continued U.S. military presence is affecting Iraqi civilians. A poll in The Washington Post this morning showed that most Iraqis think security has gotten worse since the troop "surge" -- not a single person in Anbar province and Baghdad, where the majority of additional troops are based, said they feel very safe. And, of course, things are much worse where there are fewer troops. Combine that with the fact that many Iraqis don't have jobs, water, electricity, schools, etc. and you get a pretty bleak situation. Although I believe Gen. Petraeus is a brilliant guy, he's looking at this from a military perspective, which only touches the tip of the iceberg.

More later...

Al-Qaeda in Iraq: a true story

One of my co-workers, M, used to be a captain in the Iraqi Army. He had enlisted as a young man, gone to officers' school, received highly specialized training and served loyally for more than 20 years (well, he tried to run away once -- he made it as far as Fort Bragg, N.C. -- but that's tangential to this particular story). He was commanding several hundred guys when the Americans invaded in 2003. M was thrilled -- he hated Saddam, as did most of the officers he worked with.

Then Paul Bremer announced the entire Iraqi Army was being disbanded for fears they would be loyal to Saddam. Two million soldiers and officers, most of whom were eager to fight against any Baath party loyalists and patrol the borders, suddenly found themselves out of a job. There was no chance to audition to get their jobs back; if they had served under Saddam, they could never serve again.

Since then, M has received several offers from al-Qaeda in Iraq (which may or may not be connected to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, depending on who you listen to) to help train their fighters. Most recently, an old Army buddy proposed that he devote two hours a day to train insurgents how to fire mortars and RPGs in exchange for $500 a day. That's more than $180,000 a year. AQI has nearly unlimited financial resources, they know where to find the best people and they're willing to do what it takes to get those people on board. M said no; he had a good job already, and though it doesn't pay nearly that well he is making enough to feed his family. But dozens, maybe hundreds, of the guys he worked with in the Army took AQI up on the offer. Good jobs are very difficult to find in war-torn Iraq, and for many men the opportunity to make that kind of money was irresistible.

I say this because I believe that portraying this war as a purely ideological conflict (freedom vs. terrorism, democracy vs. tyranny, secularism vs. fundamentalism, etc.) is overly simplistic and historically inaccurate. I initially found M's story totally incredible, until I realized how common it is. I would wager that most of al-Qaeda in Iraq's members are people like M -- people whose steady wages from the Army were abruptly withdrawn in 2003 and who needed to replace them. Their old Army buddies came around presenting a new opportunity, and without even questioning the political or ideological platform they jumped at the chance. This is not to say that al-Qaeda's leaders do not have a fundamentalist ideology (driving out the U.S. military, establishing a caliphate, fighting Israel, etc.), but it's naive to think belief in that ideology is the only reason people join.

How the other half lives

Today I went to lunch at "Freedom Rest," the area near the Green Zone where many high-ranking generals live and where soldiers get to take breaks for a few days at a time. It was amazing. There was a gorgeous swimming pool, ping-pong tables everywhere, several cabinets full of the latest DVDs, a movie theater playing new releases, a sports bar (but no alcohol, since soldiers and officers aren't allowed to drink it), a bowling alley and more. I was with a bunch of people meeting with a general in a high-ceilinged, lavishly decorated conference room.

I knew it was going to be a good day when I walked in the conference room and saw a line of a dozen silver serving dishes. A crew of waiters pulled off the covers to reveal fresh vegetables, Chinese noodles, chicken and broccoli, egg drop soup and much more. I was in heaven. I ate orange chicken, noodles, rice, stir fried eggplant, soup and a chocolate chip cookie, which was all delightful. The reporters in the room were saying that it's very easy for the military to get good coverage in Iraq -- just give them good food. Everybody laughed, but there's a definite element of truth to it.

It was only a couple of hours later that I realized the food wasn't actually all that good -- it was comparable to the Chinese food you'd eat in a mall food court, which I would generally scoff at. But in Iraq, those gloppy noodles and cloyingly sweet chicken tasted pretty amazing.

Soldiers

I've met a lot of soldiers over the past several weeks, and I've realized that most of them are really, really good guys. Today I got to see a reenlistment ceremony, which I found more powerful than I expected. I was in a fairly dangerous area of Iraq, and these guys are voluntarily joining up for another several years knowing that the first part of that time will be spent in scary circumstances. Since I've never had any military connection and grew up in a fairly anti-military environment (oh Berkeley...), this probably surprised me more than it would an average American.

The other part of today that made an effect on my was a top general's interaction with a platoon leader. When generals visit combat outposts, they generally bring small commemorative coins to present to people doing an especially good job. In this case, Gen. Rick Lynch, who essentially commands everything south of Baghdad, was presenting coins to two specialists and their direct supervisor. While Lynch was giving the coins to the specialists, the platoon leader was just beaming. But then Lynch turned to give a coin to him, and he got extremely uncomfortable. He stammered something to the effect of "Oh, thank you sir, but I'd rather you just recognize my guys without me. They're the ones who carry the load." Of course, Lynch insisted on giving him one, and although he accepted it he was clearly uncomfortable with the recognition. He kept turning the coin over in his hands looking extremely distressed, torn between wanting to be respectful and being unhappy about being elevated in that way.

As the platoon leader was contemplating what to do with this coin, another one of his soldiers walked up just as Lynch was turning away. The platoon leader's eyes brightened, and he turned to the soldier. He handed him the coin, saying "Gen. Lynch wanted to give this to you, but I told him you were working too hard to come out." The soldier, who was probably 19 or 20, looked thrilled, and the platoon leader looked totally relieved that he had found a solution. It was refreshing to see someone who was so committed to recognizing the people below him rather than himself.

Gen. Petraeus

I met David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, for the first time today. Actually, I spent a very long, very hot, very dusty day following him around Taji and the surrounding area. The already brutal day was made more so by a couple of particularly hellish helicopter landings. Most notably, our pilot noticed an IED on the road we were about to touch own onto, so we hit the ground for a split second and shot straight back up. It was especially unpleasant for those of us with weak stomachs.

I attended a briefing with Petraeus, who has pulled off the unbelievable feat of being wildly popular while being in charge of a wildly unpopular war. I have to admit, I see the appeal. He's relatively young and very charismatic -- the kind of guy who manages to convince everyone that he is their best friend. He's clearly pretty brilliant, too -- 10th in his class at West Point and a master's and Ph.D from Princeton, and it shows.

I watched Petraeus take questions from a handful of reporters, which was an interesting experience. Most military officials (or politicians, or CEOs) will assure reporters immediately that everything is rosy and any tiny little problems are far overshadowed by the successes. But like I say, Petraeus is brilliant, so he realizes cynical reporter types will see right through that. So instead, he starts with the problems. He says things like "I'm not going to tell you everything is perfect, because it's not. We've got problems x, y and z." By the end of his spiel today, he had still talked far more about the successes than the problems, but the reporters were less inclined to totally dismiss everything he said because he lured them in with a tiny bit of what they wanted to hear. Smart move.

All in all, a totally fascinating guy I would like to know more about. I can highly recommend this article about him, by a guy who ended up writing his biography.

Helicopter photos

I can't turn down a request from my favorite photojournalist, so here are some photos from my helicopter ride to Baquba. The quality isn't great -- the combination of a point-and-shoot camera, a fast-moving helicopter, a fairly restrictive seatbelt and a non-photojournalist shooting -- but they're kind of fun to look at. There are also photos of me in my helmet and body armor, which I will not post here but will put on Facebook (and e-mail to my mother, who is banned from creating a Facebook profile).

Actually, the photo layout options in Blogger are terrible for multiple photos, so just go here.

Oh man

I didn't bring nearly enough Carmex to Baghdad. This is a problem of epic proportions for an admitted junkie. My lips may fall off.

The main reason for this sentiment at this particular moment in time is that today I had my first helicopter ride. When it is hot outside, troops leave the sliding doors on both sides of the helicopter open. For the person in the front row of back seats, this causes a constant blast of hot air directly in your face.

I had been warned about this before leaving on my trip to Baquba (zoom out for some context) and advised not to sit in the two seats by the doors. On the way in I successfully avoided it, landing in a (closed) window seat in the back row. On the way back to Baghdad, I got unlucky -- last person to the chopper gets the tornado seat! I think the dust is permanently embedded in my face (this is after a shower and a copious amount of moisturizer), and my lips... oh man.

On a related note, wearing 30 pounds of body armor and a five-pound helmet when it's 130 degrees outside is not so pleasant. I felt like I was about to fall over all day long.

All that being said, though, the helicopter ride was pretty cool. Maybe when I'm less tired I will post photos taken from the sky. They mostly show desert, which is kind of a boring thing to photograph, but I had fun doing it. There's a whole lot of open desert here.

What do we think are the chances of Baghdad-produced lip balm satisfying a Carmex addict?

Good reads today

Iraq coverage in the major dailies is good reading on Sundays. Most of the time I read only as much Iraq-related journalism as I have to (which, admittedly, is a lot), but some of the Sunday stuff is too good to miss. The Washington Post has two Iraq-related enterprise stories today. The first is about the GI Bill's inability to keep pace with college tuition, which is a major problem for people coming back from Iraq. Most of the soldiers I meet here are between 18 and 22, and although many of them don't have college plans the GI Bill allows them to keep their options open. The story is here.

The second Post story is more directly about Iraq itself -- a look at the dwindling artists' community in Baghdad. People used to consider Baghdad the Paris of the Arab world, but an estimated 90 percent of artists have left the country (or been killed). There are some interesting characters in the story, both people who have chosen to leave and those who have stayed. The story is here.

The New York Times has a big political story in the Sunday magazine, but I didn't make it past the first few paragraphs. The Post has an opinion piece written by an anonymous dentist in Iraq, but I already know that Baghdad can be a depressing place to live, so I skipped that one too. They're both linked if you're interested.