T H E B I S B E E P R O J E C T

Choosing to serve

2008-07-06T17:46:00.007-05:00

We are proud to announce the recipients of The Bisbee Project Scholarships for Service awards for 2008.

The Bisbee Project recognizes graduating high school seniors who are enrolling in Army, Navy, or Air Force ROTC at a college or university or enrolling in one of our nation's service academies after graduation. Candidates are also eligible for recognition if they plan to seek a college degree and enter government service (ex. U.S. State Department, CIA, FBI, or other government organization).

Recipients of this award exhibit qualities of outstanding leadership and academic achievement and must demonstrate an interest in government and community enhancement. Government and military service is vital to our country and we aim to promote exceptional students who plan to pursue a career of service.

The scholarship consists of a one-time, cash award of $1,000 to be used in preparation for academic studies at the collegiate level. These funds are raised exclusively by private donations.

2008 Scholarships for Service awardees:

Adam Alessi, Danville Area High School
Kelly Beddall, Selinsgrove Area High School
Randy Breon, Bald Eagle Area High School
Harry J. Lesher, Lewisburg Area High School
Nicholas Shiber, Central Columbia High School
Daniel P. Siegel, State College Area School District
Michael A. Sunday, Bellefonte Area School District
Zachary M. Sunday, Bellefonte Area School District

Restoration Hardware

2008-07-06T12:06:00.004-05:00

The big news for the Project this summer is our partnership with the Northumberland County Historical Society to assist in a major restoration initiative involving Fort Augusta, a key frontier fort located on the banks of the Susquehanna River.

We are presenting the NCHS a Preserving Pennsylvania gift to add to the donations they have been collecting, and will be assisting in the effort to rebuild the Fort Augusta replica that once was a familiar landmark in downtown Sunbury, PA.

2008-07-03T18:55:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, I sat down with Wayne Laepple from the Daily Item and we talked about Iraq. Wayne reports on military and foreign policy issues for the Item. A number of local Reserve and National Guard units from Central PA have done rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Wayne reports on both the larger political issus and the personal stories involving these deployments. Below is a Wayne's recent posting in the Daily Item.

Selinsgrove native: Future looks positive for Iraq
By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item
June 15, 2008

— SELINSGROVE — Baghdad was on the verge of anarchy when former Selinsgrove resident Dan Bisbee arrived in February 2007.

There was sectarian violence in the streets, with various religious groups fighting one another, suicide bombers an everyday threat, and everyone was shooting at Americans.

Survival was the prime concern.

By the end of his tour of duty last month, much had changed. Community services such as electricity and water were becoming available. The political parties were making deals with each other, not killing each other.

“The city government was discussing how many swimming pools would open,” he said. “They were holding policy debates.”

Bisbee was a U.S. Department of State employee, a member of the Provincial Reconstruction Team advising the government of the Province of Baghdad. He was one of about 100 American civilians, from the state, defense and justice departments, working with Iraqi-American translators and Iraqi professionals, helping the Iraqis in charge of the city and province to build their own democratic government.

Bids for attention
He first visited Iraq in February 2005 as a U.S. Army captain, working with Baghdad city officials as an officer in the Army’s civil affairs branch, and after his deployment to Iraq was completed, he went back as a civilian.

His job with the PRT coincided with the U.S. military surge in Baghdad, analyzing how the surge worked and how troops and U.S. civilians would be deployed in and around Baghdad.

From his time in the military, Bisbee was familiar with how the various factions worked. Their interactions and interests were much more varied than many in the U.S. understand.

“There are differences between the insurgents and the extremists,” he explained. “The extremists want a change in government to their advantage, while the insurgents want to destroy the government and replace it with their vision.”

In the simplest terms, Bisbee said, the violence is a bid for attention.

Sometimes the different factions work together if they have similar goals, but at other times they may fight one another. One example he cited was how some of the insurgent groups were allied with al-Qaeda earlier in the conflict but turned against al-Qaeda when they tried to enforce strict Islamic law.

“They weren’t interested in that at all,” he said.

Stability and credibility
Stability is coming to Iraq as the people recognize that its leadership is gaining credibility.

“When Prime Minister Maliki decided on his own to go after the Sadrists in Basra and in Sadr City, that was huge,” Bisbee said. “The people want a strong government.”

Bisbee believes the people in Iraq are among the smartest and toughest in the Middle East, which he thinks gives the nation the best chance to develop a democracy.

“They recognize they have to get away from identity politics — religious or tribal — and instead focus on ideas and issues,” he said. “It’s not about sectarianism. It’s about upgrading economically.”

While he has seen progress in the 29 months he’s spent in Iraq since 2005, there are bumps in the road ahead, he said.

“The Sunni question will come back later this year,” he said. “When the money runs out, then what?”

He explained that massive amounts of money have been given to Sunni factions to encourage them to cooperate with the Shiite national government.

And with the U.S. presidential election coming up in November, there is strong pressure to bring American troops home.

“We’re missing the point if that’s what we focus on,” he said. “It’s much more complex than that. What do we want our policy to achieve?”

Committed to the future
But from his own perspective, from knowing Iraqis personally, he is optimistic.
A month before he left Baghdad, he said, he was invited by an Iraqi colleague for a drink after work.

“We went to a social club in downtown Baghdad. It looked like a bar here, with guys sitting around talking and smoking, with their beers and whiskeys,” he said. “They were all professionals, doctors, lawyers and so on. They’re all there because they are committed to the future of their country. These were guys who could have left, but they stayed on.”

A few days later, he attended the graduation of Baghdad University’s school of dentistry.

“These were young people, in the middle of a war, who still believe in the future.”
At the university’s school of fine arts graduation, Bisbee saw young painters and photographers and film makers.

“It looked like an art school graduation here in the U.S., with lots of interesting clothing and use of hair products,” he said. “They haven’t given up on their country. They see a future there.”

2008-06-27T15:56:00.003-05:00

Tuesday's attack in Sadr City took the lives of EPRT member Steve Farley, Civil Affairs MAJ Dwayne Kelley, Nicole Suveges from the BCT's Human Terrain Team, another soldier, an Italian-Iraqi translator and 6 Iraqi civilians, at last report. I have word that District Council Deputy Chairman Hassan Shema was the likely intended target of the attack; he was injured in the blast and is recovering, as are a number of other council members.

Friends from the Baghdad PRT tell me that nearly 100 friends and colleagues observed the departure of the Angel Flight from Baghdad last night. Honoring the departure of the flights bearing the remains of fallen comrades is a solemn ritual observed in Iraq.

2008-06-24T22:40:00.003-05:00

An attack in Sadr City killed Steve Farley, a friend and colleague working on an EPRT in Baghdad, as well as 2 soldiers and another DoD employee. They were attending a Sadr City council meeting; several of the Iraqi council members were seriously injured. Steve was one of the most dedicated and effective members of the PRT community in Baghdad - he had just returned to Baghdad as a civilian after serving a year in uniform on the EPRT. I held him in the highest regard; he was truly making a difference and leaves a significant legacy. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him; my condolences go out to his family and to all touched by this event. The news I have is still fragmented; I have heard that several Iraqi friends of mine were injured but are recovering. My thoughts are with them tonight and with all my friends and colleagues serving in Baghdad.

Below is a CNN article.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Four Americans -- two soldiers and two civilians from the Defense and State departments -- were killed Tuesday in a blast that rocked a municipal building in Baghdad's Sadr City, the U.S. Embassy said.

The attack also killed six Iraqis and wounded 10 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

A second employee from the U.S. Defense Department also died, but that person wasn't an American. The employee was a dual Italian-Iraqi national, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.

The U.S. military said the blast struck a meeting of a district advisory council, a neighborhood group that looks at local needs and passes on its assessments to the provincial government.

The deputy head of the council was seriously injured, the Interior Ministry official said.

The U.S. military blamed Iranian-backed militants it calls Special Groups for the blast and detained three people in connection with the attack, including a suspect "fleeing the scene [who] tested positive for explosive residue."
"We believe the target of the attack was a high-ranking [district advisory council] member as well as the U.S. soldiers," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a U.S. military spokesman.

"We believe the Special Groups criminals were upset that the DAC member was working with coalition forces to improve the quality of life for the southern Sadr City residents."

A statement from Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, identified the slain State Department employee as Steve Farley.

"Mr. Farley was a member of our embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team for the Sadr City and Adhamiya districts of Baghdad City," the statement said.

"We extend our deepest condolences to their families and friends, and our profound appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice that they made in service to their country and for the people of Iraq. This is a tragic loss and one we all mourn."

The U.S. Embassy statement didn't identify the other victims.

The blast dramatizes the perils the war still poses for Americans despite a Pentagon report Monday that touted a sharp decrease in violence in Iraq in recent months.

The explosion also marked the third strike in two days involving local politicians and political institutions in Baghdad.

A city councilman on Monday fired on U.S. forces at a municipal building southeast of the capital in the Salman Pak area and killed two soldiers.

Separately, the head of Abu Dsheer City Council in Baghdad's southern Dora area was gunned down at his home later Monday.

Last week, a bomb ripped through Baghdad's Hurriya district near a neighborhood advisory council meeting where U.S. troops were stationed, killing 63 people and wounding 71 others.

The U.S. military also blamed that attack on a Special Groups cell, but Stover couldn't say whether it was connected to Tuesday's blast.

"Last week's event was an attempt to incite sectarian violence and hatred against the Iraqi Sunni population in an effort to keep them from returning to Hurriya," Stover said.

Sadr City, the scene of Tuesday's deadly blast, is a stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and where some of the capital's most intense fighting in recent months has occurred between Shiite militia members and Iraqi security forces.

A truce deal was reached last month between the Iraqi government and al-Sadr's followers, ending weeks of fighting and allowing the Iraqi army to enter Sadr City, but violence persists.

Al-Sadr recently announced his intention to develop a new fighting force that would battle U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

Many followers in al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia have heeded a long-standing cease-fire, but some rogue forces are thought to be involved in violence.

"This was the fourth meeting of this district council, led by hard-working Iraqis determined to make a difference and set Sadr City off on the right path. Special Groups are afraid of progress and afraid of empowering the people," Lt. Col. John Digiambatista of the 4th Infantry Division said in a news release, referring to Tuesday's attack.

Twenty-two U.S. troops have died in Iraq to date this month. There have been 4,106 deaths of U.S. service members since the war began.
Other developments

• A suicide car bomb went off near a police station in central Mosul Tuesday evening, killing a child, a police officer and wounding 70 people, Mosul police said. Several houses were affected by the blast, which occurred in a market and residential area. Police and civilians, including women and children, were among the wounded.

• Coalition troops in Mosul killed a senior-level al Qaeda in Iraq leader Tuesday, the U.S. military said. The operation led to the killing of the group's "emir" of Mosul, the military said. A dozen people were detained in raids targeting the group in northern Iraq and Baghdad, the military said.

• U.S. troops raided a Shiite militant hideout Tuesday in southeastern Baghdad's Karrada district, capturing four suspects the military said were connected to recent attacks on coalition bases. A vehicle bomb being built in the hideout was destroyed, according to a coalition statement.

• Anbar province will soon be run by the Iraqi military. The U.S. military said it is transferring security responsibility this week to the Iraqis. Anbar is the 10th of the 18 provinces where Iraqi forces have taken charge of security control since 2003 and the first largely Sunni Arab province to do so

It's not 2003 anymore...

2008-06-03T21:37:00.002-05:00

A Baghdad colleague, and a good friend, Mike Baumgartner was featured in this recent column in the Boston Globe.

What I'd rather read
By Kevin Cullen
June 2, 2008

You would have to put a gun to my head to make me buy Scott McClellan's book.

Actually, you'd have to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger. And if you did that, I'd be dead, which pretty much describes the way Mr. McClellan's former employers at the White House view him now.

As for the debate whether the former White House press secretary's tome amounts to an act of crass opportunism or breathtaking if belated honesty, you can put me in the former camp. McClellan's inside account of the misguided and cynical effort by the Bush administration to drag a nation into war is about as revelatory as a book telling us that Barry Bonds took steroids.

I'd be a little more impressed with McClellan if, say, a few years ago, he had stopped midsentence, as he shoveled all that dookie from the podium with the neat White House seal in the middle, and said: "I'm sorry. I can't keep lying to the American people. We screwed up."

And if McClellan had donated the profits of his book to help soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines suffering from traumatic brain injury, then maybe I'd be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, and maybe even read his book.

The book I'd like to see written is by a young man with a little more courage and a lot more character than Scott McClellan. His name is Michael Baumgartner, and he has spent the past 13 months in Iraq, trying to clean up a mess created by others.

Baumgartner is 32 years old. When he arrived in Iraq last year, it was the 68th country he had set foot in. He worked as an independent adviser to US Ambassador Ryan Crocker, as deputy director of economics in the Office of Joint Strategic Planning and Assessment. That's a fancy title that means he tried to help Iraqis put their country back together again.

I met him last year in Cambridge, in the Senior Common Room in Adams House at Harvard, where he got his master's in international development from the Kennedy School. His view of what needs to be done in Iraq was jarringly clear-minded and forward-thinking, removed from the never-ending discussion of how we got into this mess.

"It's 2008, not 2003," he told me yesterday from Tel Aviv, where he was attending a wedding. "Refighting the 2003 political battles does little to address the essential questions surrounding how we now get Iraq far enough down the path to stability so that we can withdraw. The 2003 issues are largely a distraction and have little to do with what our all-volunteer military and civilian force is doing to try and bring the Iraqi people peace.

"When my convoy took an IED last week in Sadr City, we were on our way to help the Iraqi government get clean drinking water and food aid to its citizens. Evidence about WMDs and Dick Cheney once being the CEO of Halliburton had nothing to do with it."

We hear regularly about how much we've wrecked in Iraq. Over the past year, Baumgartner has provided a perspective I couldn't get elsewhere. He told of a little boy nearly killed by an Al Qaeda bomb and how his friends pulled strings to get the kid to a US military hospital. Baumgartner was there when the boy hobbled back to give presents to the doctors and nurses who saved his life.

"Watching him cry as he handed out the presents and repeated a broken 'Thank you, America,' was one of the most amazing experiences of a very amazing year," Baumgartner said.

Baumgartner is more optimistic today than he was a year ago.

"I know a lot of people are still talking about how we got into Iraq," he said. "But how we get out is so much more important."

There is a story to tell, but I'd rather read the narrative of Michael Baumgartner, an architect of hope, not the likes of Scott McClellan, one of the authors of disaster.

Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. cullen@globe.com.

Last Night

2008-05-24T13:24:00.003-05:00

This is it. Again. Tomorrow morning I lift off from Baghdad International Airport and start the first leg of my return to the States. Over three years ago, in May 2005, I first arrived here; in May 2006 I completed my first tour with the Army. I've been back with the State Department since February 2007, bringing my in-country time to 29 months. I will be starting PhD studies at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, working on a dissertation involving transnational political history and post-conflict governance.

I leave many friends in Baghdad, both old and new. The other night a group of us from the PRT hosted a gathering for some of my favorite Iraqi friends at the Palace. Tahseen Sheikhly and his family brought the muzguf; Shatha and Mahmoud, still very weak but just so determined to have a good time, also paid another visit; old friends such as former Governor of Baghdad Ali Fadel, district council members Mohammed al-Rubeiy and Kadem al-Shamary and a few others spent a few hours reminiscing as well as talking about the future. In an environment of such challenges, a few hours spent with such good friends is a welcome opportunity.

This week I attended a performance of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. Despite a tremendous array of difficulties, this body of musical professionals continues to represent the artistic excellence of the Iraqi people.

I attended an awards ceremony for the graduating class of the Baghdad School of Fine Arts. We watched a few student films and browsed exhibits of paintings and photography done by students. Having some experience with artistic communities in various periods of my life, I have to say that there is definitely something universal about "art school students" no matter where you are -- even in Baghdad. I was asked to be a special guest presenter for the film portion of the awards ceremony, and most of the recipients would have looked completely at home at some of the parties I used to attend while living in Austin. Lots of 'flair.' Gratuitous use of hair care products. So many ways to be creative with a collar, and how far one decides to leave a shirt unbuttoned. And of course, some random girl who just had to wear a tiara.

A few of us went to a traditional Iraqi dinner and musical festival on Thursday evening. By the end of the night, nearly everyone was lined up around dance floor, participating in the traditional Iraqi group dance -- something like a combination between a conga line and the 'boot-scoot boogie.'

I was busy packing Friday afternoon when a good friend burst into my room and said: "Dan, the Government of Iraq needs your laptop for a cabinet meeting with the Prime Minister." A completely random set of circumstances led to the use of my Vaio as PM Maliki was briefed on the status of security operations and services in Sadr City. We are good friends with the Iraqi official who was setting up the meeting -- he ran into a snag and it was a no-brainer to step in and help. Sayeed is an example of the Iraqi that you never see on the news: a mid-level government employee who is patriotic, courageous, and completely dedicated to his profession and his people. I was honored to work with him in an official capacity -- and to know him as a friend and a man of honor. "Of course he can use my laptop, dude."

No doubt, I'm leaving on a high note; a few weeks ago under a daily barrage of rocket and mortar fire things did not look so bright. Signs of progress here can easily appear undone by a few acts of heinous violence. I believe that during my experiences of the past year and a half, which roughly coincide with the "surge" of troops and civilian personnel into Baghdad, I have seen tangible and irreversible momentum towards a better future in Iraq -- but I also leave with an acute awareness of the tremendous challenges yet to be faced here, by the residents of Baghdad as well as my civilian and military colleagues working to further this progress. I wish them all the best; to those who served before, to those who remain -- and to those who have paid the final sacrifice and will not return home. God bless you all.

One of Baghdad's Most influential

2008-05-15T12:49:00.006-05:00

If you haven't come across TIME's list of the World's 100 Most Influential People yet, go ahead and check out the listing for Ms. Madeeha Hassan Odthaib, one of Baghdad's leading activists and a member of the Karada District Council of Baghdad. Madeeha has been involved with the plight of displaced persons in Baghdad and is an inspiring example of somebody who just refuses to sit by watch a crisis unfold without doing anything about it. A few months ago I had the chance to sit down with her and talk about the sectarian violence that drove much of Baghdad's displacement crisis. She told me about her efforts to galvanize a reluctant government bureacracy to effectively provide assistance to needy families in her community; her personal activism generated the energy necessary to convince local leaders to respond -- and their actions led to greater attention by the national government. I saw her again a few days ago, just before her trip to New York to attend TIME's gala event for those on the list. We facilitated a session between a group of Baghdad's notable activists, civic leaders and political independents, and we were all proud to see Madeeha's hard work and example be recognized in such a high profile way.

Here is the article from TIME:

Madeeha Hasan Odhaib
By Queen Rania
It's not every day that success stories echo out of Iraq into the halls of power, but Madeeha Hasan Odhaib defies the norm. Armed with her sewing machine, unflinching stoicism and determination, Madeeha, 37, is mending the fabric of Iraq.

Four years ago, this mother of two and seamstress turned district council member took three sewing machines, leveraged them into 60 and built a business sewing hospital sheets and flags. She now employs 100 women. That figure may seem insignificant compared with the accomplishments of other achievers on TIME's list. But in a country with more than 60% unemployment and rampant poverty, such efforts provide a lifeline. Each woman Madeeha employs returns home with an invaluable sense of self-respect, money in her purse, food for her children and optimism for a daughter desperately seeking a role model amid mayhem. Madeeha also treads—or, rather, threads—the line between activism and heroism. She has coordinated with the Red Crescent, Red Cross, Hands of Mercy and Iraqi army to distribute food around Baghdad. And despite threats, she says she'll never give up.

Iraq is suffering one of the worst humanitarian crises we have ever seen. While Madeeha rightly makes Time's list, women like her are found throughout Iraq, sewing hope one stitch at a time. Through Madeeha, we celebrate all of Iraq's courageous women, whose resilience and resourcefulness hold the promise of a new dawn.

Road to recovery

2008-05-11T14:37:00.008-05:00

I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to help out an Iraqi boy injured in a horrific suicide bombing at a Baghdad market back in February. While shopping at the market, Mahmoud, the nephew of Ms. Shatha al-Obedie, the Press Secretary for the Governor of Baghdad, was severely injured in the blast of a suicide bomber belt worn by a mentally ill woman who was no doubt unaware that she was being used by al-Qaeda terrorists to carry out their attack.

Shatha is a very good friend of mine and truly an example of an Iraqi patriot, working against incredible challenges to serve the people of Baghdad and get its government back on its feet. Immediately after the blast she called me to see if there was any way to help Mahmoud.

I am very grateful to so many colleagues in the Embassy and the Army for the remarkable compassion and professionalism they displayed in helping Mahmoud. Through their efforts, Mahmoud was stabilized and is now on the road to recovery. It is an honor to serve here with such great people.

Mahmoud wanted to pay a visit to the IZ the other day to thank those who helped him survive his trauma.

The Daily Item of Sunbury, PA posted Mahmoud's story on May 9.

Iraqi teen saved
Selinsgrove man saves Iraqi teen left for dead

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A Selinsgrove resident on Thursday said he acted after an Iraqi teen was told by doctors overwhelmed with suicide bombing casualties that his leg injury would probably cause his death.

Dan Bisbee, who grew up near Kratzerville and graduated from Selinsgrove Area High School in 1990, is a U.S. State Department employee working in the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Baghdad. Bisbee was able to arrange for Mahmoud Hassan al-Hadi, 18, to be treated in an Army combat support hospital after a February suicide bombing in Baghdad.

Al-Hadi, 18, was seriously injured Feb. 1 in an explosion at the Rusafa market. The attack, which killed 60 people and left more than 150 injured, became notorious when it was learned that a mentally ill woman had carried the explosives into the crowded market.

Al-Hadi was at the market that day with his aunt, Shatha al-Obedie, press secretary to the governor of Baghdad Province. Moments before the blast, he stopped to look at birds in the pet market while his aunt continued on.

Shrapnel from the explosion ripped his torso open, shattered his leg and resulted in internal injuries. His aunt was uninjured.

He was one of many victims rushed to the trauma center at Medical City in downtown Baghdad, where, according to Bisbee, doctors told his distraught aunt that the leg could not be saved and he would likely die from his wounds.

“They were just overwhelmed with casualties and could only do so much,” Bisbee said Thursday by telephone.

Al-Hadi’s aunt called Bisbee and asked for help.

Bisbee, who said he considers al-Obedie a friend and works with her daily, said her request was reasonable, both as a humanitarian issue and because of his high regard for her. “I had to do what I could to help out,” he said. “I spoke to the ambassador's office and he signed off, and then contacted the Combat Support Hospital in the Green Zone.”

Al-Hadi was brought by ambulance to the hospital and rushed into surgery, where Army doctors were able to save his leg and repair his internal injuries. After a few days of recovery, he was released to an Iraqi hospital to recuperate.

On Tuesday, al-Hadi and his aunt returned to the Combat Support Hospital to visit doctors, nurses and staff who had saved his life.

“I cannot find the words to express my gratitude for saving my life,” he told the group. “I will never forget you.”

Bisbee said everyone in the room was teary-eyed as the young man, who is still on crutches and has more months of recuperation ahead of him, entered the room.

“He was happy to still have his leg,” Bisbee said. “He’s starting to gain back the weight he lost after the injuries.”

Scholarship time

2008-05-11T07:55:00.001-05:00

With high school graduations right around the corner, The Bisbee Project is preparing to release its final list of recipients for this year's Scholarships for Service awards. Last year we presented one award, to Derek Houtz of Selinsgrove Area High School. Derek is now wrapping up his 'plebe' (freshman) year at West Point. This year we will be presenting awards to another Selinsgrove grad, as well as applicants from a number of other Central Pennsylvania communities. Thanks to everyone who has supported our program; we are proud to provide this kind of encouragement to young people interested in public service careers.

Doing lunch

2008-05-10T09:48:00.003-05:00

Diplomatic work is an odd business. Most of the time you are doing it looks nothing like 'work.' I was invited to have lunch downtown today with Tahseen Sheikhly, the Government of Iraq spokesman who was kidnapped by militants a few weeks ago; I wrote about hanging out with his children last week. On the trip downtown I revisited an area of the city that I haven't seen in a while. The Tigris River winds its way through the center of Baghdad and there are some terrific riverfront neighborhoods along its banks.

One such area, Abu Nuwas, has seen a remarkable renewal over the past few months. Walking paths, gardens and playgrounds have been refurbished where I remember seeing barbed wire and heaps of trash a few months ago. Abu Nuwas was once famed for its club scene; while the discos have yet to reestablish themselves, several of the famous fish market restaurants have reopened. Several famous hotels line this section of town as well. We met Tahseen at the al-Wiyah Club, one of Baghdad's prominent social clubs that date back to the British era of the 1920's. In fact the al-Wiyah Club was the preferred spot for Gertrude Bell, the famous British writer, archeologist and imperial administrator. Along with figures like T.E. Lawrence, she is among those who shaped the modern Middle East in the critical post-First World War era. We stopped by the club's bar to see her favorite chair. Membership at the club dropped after 2003, as Baghdad's affluent fled for neighboring countries like Jordan, but is now seeing a bounce due to the security improvements seen in Baghdad over the past few months. Also, the recent actions of Prime Minister Maliki's government has brought a renewed faith in Iraqi institutions and the government's ability to project its power in the city. At the bar enjoying an afternoon drink were a number of Iraqi professionals and retirees, eager to have a chat. I spoke with Mr. Ali Swadi, a prominent corporate lawyer, about the benefits of club membership at the al-Wiyah; he says his family has held a membership since the day the club opened its doors in the 1920's. Members enjoy the three swimming pools and seven tennis courts, as well as access to the massive banquet hall for formal functions such as weddings and business conferences. Today was graduation day for a class of future dentists; the Dentistry department of Baghdad's notable Mustansiriyah University was holding their graduation banquet at the club; we stopped by and shook hands with a number of future professionals who will likely fill the ranks of the al-Wiyah membership roster in a few years.

We had to catch our own lunch; Tahseen insisted that we have one of Baghdad's famous dishes, muzguf - a special way of preparing fish on a barbecue. A big tank out in the club's courtyard held a number of carp who resisted attempts at being netted and snatched out of the tank. Eventually two fish found themselves split open and roasting above an open fire. Lunch inside the posh dining room was as pleasant as any Sunday afternoon I remember at the Susquehanna Valley Country Club, the site of a number of family outings in my formative days. Tahseen spoke about the Government's work to bring security to Sadr City and deliver essential services to that part of the city; a challenge due to the activities of militants seeking to undermine the authority of the municipal government. However, Tahseen was hopeful that some headway had been made in some recent negotiations between political factions.

A surprise visitor showed up at the club for lunch; those of you who may have followed my experiences in 2005 here in Baghdad may remember my advisor Ali, who was with me during the exhilarating days of the 2005 election cycle. Ali now runs his own media company, and says he is doing well. He has finally realized his dream of running his own company, a dream barely thought possible when he fled Saddam's anti-Shia crackdown in Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. He was helped in getting to San Diego through a Catholic charity group and put himself through a master's program at American University in D.C. before returning to work in Baghdad with Coalition forces. Now he represents a growing trend of Iraqi professionals and entrepreneurs returning to their country to help it get back on its feet. Ali, and most of the other gentlemen I met at the club, feel that the religiosity of the politicians currently in power in Baghdad, mostly Shia and influenced by the fervor of the Iranian Revolution, will eventually wane as the Iraqi mainstream helps the country return to displaying its secular, progressive, cosmopolitan and patriotic tendencies. I asked my new lawyer friend if he was afraid that the government, in an act of zealotry, would try to shut down his club for openly selling alcohol and allowing an open mixing of the sexes. He guffawed at the suggestion, nearly spilling his Scotch. "If the government tries to shut down this Club," he said, "Every man here will go and tell them to shut down the Government!"

Transitions

2008-05-09T14:26:00.003-05:00

I have been very lucky to work with some very talented people during my time in Iraq. Last night was a farewell to a good friend; a Black Hawk lifted off and sunk into the sky, chopping air and sliding over the city into the night. We've worked closely over the past year on tracking the issues affecting Baghdad; part of our jobs involved writing the official State Department reports on the status of Baghdad. This required us to piece together a vast collection of information from Iraqi leaders and citizens, US military assessments, development specialists and information gathered from a number of other sources. When I started to get into political reporting a colleague told me that one guiding principle to understand is this: everything happens for a reason. It is one thing to see the events play out before you; it is another to piece together the 'why' of it all and make sense out of the noise. Not to get fixated on the dominoes as they fall, but to see the hand that nudged them. You may be aware that there has been an uptick of violence lately, first in Basra and now in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. This is an incredibly important development. The Government of Iraq, under Prime Minister Maliki, has made the decision to go on the offensive against the militia groups that seek to undermine the credibility of the government. Many of these militia actors are, or claim to be, affiliated with the Sadrist movement, a Shia movement that encompasses a broad assortment of militant, social and political components. What we are witnessing in Iraq is now one of the existential issues that will determine the future of Iraq; namely, whether the aims of this Sadrist movement can be incorporated into the legitimate political discourse defining Iraq's governance system or not. As with all issues here, this is complex. There are elements within Maliki's government that want to completely wipe out the Sadrists; there are those who seek some sort of accommodation. As for the Sadrists, there are those who desire only outright domination of the government, and there are those who see the movement playing the role of legitimate political party within a democratic system. In the midst of this, the fundamental question of US presence in Iraq is also being debated, as well as questions about the broader balance of power among Iraq's Middle Eastern neighbors. Many may be war-weary after five years of what is called the Iraq War, and the day-to-day violence that is reported, without context, may appear senseless and just more examples to justify the rightness or wrongness, depending upon one's political persuasion, of the original decision to invade in 2003. But this conflict has evolved and continues to evolve as some fundamental political issues are debated in the form of violence. As a political reporter you do not seek to justify any form of violence, only to understand the motivations behind it and the conditions that may bring about its cessation. The decision by Prime Minister Maliki's government to pursue their objectives has brought about many hardships for many people, but may in fact, in its results, lead to greater stability and security for the people of Baghdad over the long run and set the conditions for a reduction in US military presence in Iraq. I am (once again) looking at the end of my tour here in Baghdad; I am scheduled to depart in a matter of weeks. It is easy to say that we are once again in a period of fundamental change here in Iraq; in an environment of constant evolution there is always something 'different' about the here and now that was not so before, however; you do yourself, and our efforts here, a disservice to not look a little closer at the nature of this conflict and try to understand that 'everything happens for a reason' and what is happening in Baghdad right here and right now is the result of forces trying to create a certain outcome in the right here and right now.

Ranger challenge

2008-04-28T12:40:00.003-05:00

Greg and Jeff Soule, two Army officers representing the ROTC program at James Madison University, recently took second in the Army's annual Best Ranger competition. Greg is an old buddy of Steve's from Air Assault school and ROTC Ranger Challenge competitions - they've kept up over the years as their military careers took them down separate paths. Below is the Army Times article describing their superb performance during this grueling challenge.

The Bisbee Project contributed to their training expenditures and is proud to support these great American warriors and the ROTC program that produces leaders of such high caliber.

FORT BENNING, Ga. — Within minutes of winning the Best
Ranger Competition, Staff Sgts. Michael Broussard and
Shayne Cherry, both 24, emerged from a medical tent
looking like they were ready for another obstacle
course.

After embracing family and friends, the members of
Team 5 representing the 75th Ranger Regiment spoke to
members of the media in relatively dry shirts with
hardly a bead of sweat across their brow.

“I feel good,” Cherry said.

Broussard and Cherry emerged victorious in the 25th
annual David E. Grange, Jr. Best Ranger Competition at
Fort Benning, Ga., following a grueling three days of
field exercises and obstacle courses. Only 16 of the
28 teams that entered the event finished, with many
exiting slowly from the medical tent with white
medical gauze on their arms from intravenous
injections — evidence of the physical tax of the
competition.

Coming in second place were brothers Capt. Jeff Soule,
25, and Maj. Greg Soule, 32, of Team 3 representing
the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps at James Madison
University in Virginia. The two were separated nearly
all of training, with Jeff in Georgia and Greg in
Virginia.

“I definitely didn’t expect to be finishing second,”
Greg said as he pushed his 3-month-old baby, Addison,
in a stroller toward the awards reception. “We didn’t
have any time to train together really, about a few
days a month. I was expecting to have a few more
blisters on my feet.

“But what we did this weekend, my whole body is beat
down,” he said. “I just want to go sit down. I’m
walking around like I got pins sticking into my feet.”

His brother, meanwhile, walked to the awards ceremony
and barbecue afterward with a limp and lingering
cough. When one of his family members asked if he
wanted food, he said, “Yeah, but not coleslaw, just
meat.” Greg said he was most looking forward to a
beer.

Finishing in third place were Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah
Beck and Sgt. Jeremy Billings, 23, of Team 9
representing the 75th Ranger Regiment.

The first-, second- and third-place teams ran across
the finish line together. Many teams finished with
their rifles held high in the air. The soldiers,
family and friends attended an awards ceremony
afterward with barbecue food, cold ice tea and beer.
Gifts were distributed to the 16 finishing teams.

Cherry and Broussard won the bronze boot award for the
road march, a nighttime trek that took place on Friday
night. This year’s march came after a day of grueling
activities beneath an aggressive Georgia sun. All 12
teams that didn’t finish the competition were
eliminated during the road march, which was shortened
from the scheduled 30 miles to just 16 miles due to
the high dropout rate, soldiers said.

The Soule brothers won the competition’s award for
orienteering after an impressive showing in Saturday
night’s land navigation course. Soldiers were required
to find points they plotted on a map across miles of
difficult terrain without flashlights or any kind of
illumination devices.

“They’re not allowed to turn on any lights,” said
Capt. Kent Keirsey, a Ranger instructor for the 5th
Ranger Training Battalion. “They’re only allowed to
use ambient light, so they have to be spot on. … They
had great illumination last night. That moon was up
all night.”

Hanging out

2008-04-12T13:35:00.004-05:00

It was the most remarkable unremarkable evening. I just had dinner and watched a movie with a couple of friends. What made tonight a little more interesting than normal was the fact that the friends I got to hang out with are the family of Tahseen Sheikhly, the GOI official who got kidnapped and released by militants last week. Tahseen's family has been living in a hotel since the ordeal began; the attackers that kidnapped Tahseen launched RPGs at his home during the assault that exploded inside and burned the house to the ground. The family lost everything - save the life of Tahseen. I was meeting with some other Baghdad officials at the hotel today when I ran into the family having some tea with an Embassy colleague of mine. Tahseen's household consists of two married sons and a few unmarried daughters. Essentially camping out at the hotel for the past two weeks, they were getting cabin fever. The uncertainty of where they are headed next was clearly troubling them, despite their cheerful attitude and friendly demeanor. They know that so-called friends from their old neighborhood actually participated in the attack on their home and the seizure of their father - a well-known public spokesman for the government. My friend suggested that we take the group out on a "night on the town," which merely consisted of taking them to dinner at the Embassy cafeteria, giving them a quick tour of the Republican Palace (which, ironically and yet unsurprisingly, many Iraqis have never seen the inside of, while to many Americans posted here, it's the only thing they ever do get to see in Baghdad), and then taking a trip back to my hooch to play a little Guitar Hero and watch Jack Black in School of Rock, one of my absolute favorite films. Tahseen's children, all early- to mid-twenties, had a good time hanging out - or at least they convinced me that they did (I can get a little distracted when Guitar Hero is involved) - and I have to admit it was a great break for me to get away from the office. So often our work involves these grand strategies and intricate programs to win the 'hearts and minds' of Iraqis - yet, we almost ignore the living, breathing, friendly Iraqi people that are right here in front of us on a daily basis. Whatever report I had to write or emails I had to answer – I just don't think they'll ever be as critical as the few hours as I got to spend with these new friends. This is a difficult place to keep your perspective in, but every now and then you know you spent your time wisely. School of Rock cracks me up every time. And I know I wasn't the only one who got to enjoy the first good laugh in a good long while.

Urban planning

2008-04-11T11:51:00.005-05:00

Just got out the weekly meeting I attend with Prime Minister al-Maliki, Iraq's National Security Advisor al-Rubeiy, Ahmed Chalabi, a few other key Ministers within the Government of Iraq cabinet and Baghdad's provincial government leaders: the Governor, the Mayor of the City and the Provincial Council Chairman. The meeting focuses on the 'political and economic' effects of the Baghdad Security Plan, the joint operation to secure and stabilize Baghdad. Usually Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus sit in as well. They were out of town today, for obvious reasons; I can't speak for them but I would think that as violent as Iraq can be, they still might prefer to sit through this meeting than go through a grilling by Congress. Maliki was out this week as well and Rubeiy was flying through the agenda until Mayor Saber launched into a diatribe about the issue he feels most passionate about - all the illegal squatting going on in Baghdad's government-owned properties. It truly is a nasty problem; we've got people building artificial neighborhoods on vacant lots and then tapping into existing city services systems - systems that are already overtaxed and in need of serious upgrade and repair. And the Mayor made a very good point - this isn't really just an infrastructure problem, it's a political problem. Militia groups and criminals sometimes get into the act by forging false 'deeds' for the properties, colluding with corrupt or compromised officials within the government. They agreed to bring it up as an agenda topic for next week's session. I bring it up here because it's a good example, in perhaps a weird way, that there's been a lot of progress in the government I've been working with since 2005. I mapped this out with some colleagues a few weeks ago as a thought exercise; by listing out the major concerns we reported on over the past twelve months, we had before us what essentially was an inverted version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The issues that this government is able to focus on are far more complicated and abstract than the very basic concerns they struggled with just a few months ago. That's not to say that citizens here are not fighting a day-to-day struggle for survival - many certainly are - it's just that the level of discourse at meetings like this weekly session on the state of 'security' in Baghdad is truly at a different, and more advanced state than before. Maybe if you were transported over for an evening to sit through one of these things you might think I'm nuts - it often seems like nothing is ever decided, and the only solution the Prime Minister has for any problem is to form another special committee to look into it - but for a few of us who have been able to see this process over the span of a year or more it really is remarkable to see not where we are - but how far we've come.

On edge

2008-04-08T15:04:00.003-05:00

It is now late in the evening on April 8, minutes away from the five-year anniversary of what is recognized as the liberation of Baghdad. Those of you a few hours behind us may now be watching the testimony of Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus. Residents of Sadr City and other neighborhoods in Baghdad are hunkered down in their homes, anxious over the simmering fighting between militia groups and Iraqi Security Forces and the possibility that tomorrow might bring on an uncontrolled escalation of violence. The Sadrists have reportedly called off their "million man march" scheduled for tomorrow, however significant demonstrations are still likely to occur. I have just submitted the last of several reports requested by Washington describing the political atmospherics in Baghdad; today my team and I worked the phones for hours canvassing Iraqis across the city, talking to high-ranking officials and regular citizens alike in order to gauge the tenor of Baghdad and provide some sense to the air of tension and anxiety pervading the capital. A war of words accompanies this could-be war on the streets; the propaganda efforts of all sides are shifted into high gear. One way to look at this confrontation is through the lens of Iraqi electoral politics; the major Shia parties are lining up against each other to prove their dominance. The ISCI (Islamic Supreme Council in Iraq) party, more ensconced within the offices of legitimate government, claim that the Sadrists are nothing more than outlaw criminal thugs. Which many are. The Sadrists retort that ISCI loyalists are pawns of the regime in Tehran, and not representative of the Iraqi people. Which many are. For right now, the Sunnis and the Kurds are on the sidelines of this fight for Baghdad's heart and soul. And we're right in the middle of it. Tomorrow will be an interesting day.

Release

2008-04-01T13:36:00.000-05:00

Last night brought relief and a bright moment into what otherwise has been one of the more challenging and sorrowful of weeks. On Thursday, as reported in major media, GOI (Government of Iraq) spokesman Tahseen Sheikhly was abducted from his home by a crew of militia fighters. Tahseen, the epitome of the 'public spokesman,' was good friends with many of us in the Embassy and I see him at least twice a week at meetings between US and GOI officials working on Operation Fardh al-Qanoon (Arabic for 'rule of law'), the Baghdad security plan. I can personally vouch for his dedication to the Iraqi nation and his efforts to see his government overcome political differences and forge a new future. His kidnapping brought a high degree of shock, anger and concern to a week already made difficult by the threat of mortar and rocket barrage into the IZ, and the casualties that included several of our colleagues. We were in touch with Tahseen's family throughout the ordeal, and a breakthrough came last night with the announcement that he would be released. He reunited with his family in the IZ late last night; he gave me a huge bear hug as he jumped out of the sedan that carried him from the IZ checkpoint to the location where he was welcomed by a small group of us from various Embassy offices and members of his family. Looking slightly unshaven and a bit disheveled, Tahseen seemed pretty much like his usual exuberant self; we had a brief reunion and then he was brought to see his mother, who, for fear of something going wrong during the release, was not yet informed of Tahseen's safety. It was good to see our friend returned safely to his family.

2008-03-29T07:48:00.004-05:00

On Thursday, March 27, Dr. Mazin Zwayne, a Baghdad PRT colleague and adviser to Embassy and Coalition officials was killed during a rocket attack on the IZ.

I have had the extreme good fortune to develop many friendships with Iraqi-American colleagues during the two years I have served in Baghdad, and I know there is absolutely no way to estimate the value these friendships have brought to my work here, and to the rest of my life. I have often felt the guiding touch, heard the helpful whisper, seen the approving nod of these advisers and followed the safer paths their guidance pointed out. Dr. Mazin Zwayne was one such figure who selflessly and compassionately served his friends, his colleagues, our mission and the people of Iraq in such a way to engender the most remarkable respect for his dedication and the deepest sadness for his passing. He will be sorely missed.

During a series of meetings with some officials from Baghdad's provincial government I learned more about the cultural and social history of the Iraqi nation than I ever have out of any book I could have read. Of course, Dr. Mazin was along with me on these meetings. Or perhaps I should say that I was along with him. He displayed an astonishing ability to draw out some the most fascinating stories from every official that we engaged. I anticipated several dry meetings with some technocrats; Dr. Mazin turned them into symposiums on the historiography of Iraqi national identity. I needed to discuss some minor technical details on a project with these officials; after two rounds of chai I realized that Dr. Mazin had the group convinced to level a section of downtown Baghdad in order to begin the full-scale reconstruction of an ancient ziggurat. He was truly a scholar and a gentlemen -- and to the more than a few of us who have shared the experience of being compelled to sit through one of his impromptu lectures -- he will remain in our memories "The Professor." I consider myself highly fortunate to be among that number.

His understanding of the once and future glory of this nation and its people was, and remains, an inspiration to us all.

May God bless his soul and comfort all who knew and loved him.

Friday Night Lights

2008-03-21T12:30:00.005-05:00

Friday night in Baghdad. Good Friday, actually, now that I think about it. Quite a few religious occasions to keep track of here - part of the cosmic background radiation of this place. The sound of the call to prayer from mosques across the city echoes over the t-walls and into the IZ. Time in Baghdad is often compared to Groundhog Day. Endless repeats of the same day, the joke goes. Except that here our Groundhog Day is a repeat of some sort of High Holy Holiday. (A redundancy?) Yesterday was the Prophet Mohammed's Birthday. Big holiday. And we've got the Easter weekend. Purim this week for my Jewish friends. There's a pretty regular group that gets together for Shabbat services and dinner at the Palace every Friday evening. Another one of those things we say "I bet Saddam never thought THAT would happen in his Palace..." Along with Karaoke Night at his pool every Wednesday.

I was a guest lecturer at the Counterinsurgency Course held here for incoming Army leaders last week. General Petraeus launched the COIN school (the standard abbreviation) to better disseminate the information in the new Army Manual for COIN and generate more serious discussion on the theory and practice of counterinsurgency operations among his officers and NCOs. Leaders of units arriving in theater spend a few days at the course before heading to their areas of operations. It's a good initiative, and one which I wish involved more of my State Department and USAID colleagues. As a member of a PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) I'm part of an interagency team working to build the capacity of Baghdad's government to serve its citizens equitably, effectively and transparently. By helping to legitimate the government in the eyes of the populace, we're really at the forefront of what is considered counterinsurgency operations. Most people look at COIN from a purely military perspective (including many of my PRT colleagues) but in actuality it must be seen as the full-spectrum effort that incorporates all aspects of securing, stabilizing and developing Baghdad. With the gains we've seen in the security environment recently we've been gaining traction in many of our 'soft' efforts to support good governance and economic development.

Part of the discussion I led, with a colleague working in an office that works on strategic planning for the Embassy, was focused on exactly the kinds of successes we are seeing with the political and economic initiatives gaining ground since security started to improve last fall. More than a few of the Army leaders in our course are returning to Iraq for their second, and sometimes third, tour and it was very productive to have a discussion on what has and hasn't worked in Iraq over the past five years. Believe it or not, we are getting better at managing the colossal challenge that is Iraq, and we are learning from our successes and failures. If I accomplish nothing else in the few extra weeks that I've decided to spend here I hope to communicate the lessons of these successes and failures to those who follow behind me. I owe it to our soldiers, I owe it to my colleagues, I owe it to the American taxpayer, and I owe it to the Iraqi people.

Re-view

2008-02-13T09:39:00.004-05:00

Exactly a year ago I left my car sitting on top of four inches of frozen snow where I believed the driveway to be here at the Gettysburg house, got a lift to Dulles airport and started my second year in Baghdad. I am now back looking out over a layer of snow on the ground as freezing rain pelts the surface of a familiar lake and the rental car I picked up at Dulles two nights ago. I was a direct hire to the State Department for my service in Iraq, one of the many temporary officers State has filling its diplomatic and reconstruction positions. Typical service is to do a tour for a year; State has the option not to renew your contract at the end of twelve months, or allow an extension. You see a lot after two years in Iraq, and it is commonly held that there are people there who've just been there "too long." We're getting to the point where some soldiers have been back for their third tour or more; a number of civilians still remember the "CPA Days." I am headed back there in a few weeks; I decided to extend my contract for a while longer past my year, putting me over the twenty-four month mark on the ground. That really wasn't part of the plan. As of a week and a half ago, I was coming home for good. Some things changed my mind. Perhaps instead I should say that I changed my mind about some things. Either way, I'm trying to hold to my original objective of only staying in Baghdad as long as I felt that I was making some positive contribution to the effort. There is so much that needs to be done there and it borders on hubris of the highest order to think that one person's actions can make much of a difference. Yet, if you knew some of the truly remarkable people I have the opportunity to work with, Americans and Iraqis and others, you might forgive us those moments, with our shoulders hard pressed against the boulder, that we see it yield to our collective will. So, I'll take a little time here to watch some snow melt and then I'll head back for another push. In the meantime, I'll try to catch up on the posting from my trip across the Middle East, add some thoughts on why we are in a much different place after the year of the "Surge," and preview The Bisbee Project's plan for 2008. Thanks to everyone for your continued support, and thanks to all of our fellow citizens who serve here and abroad trying to make a difference.

IN MEMORIAM

2008-02-08T07:21:00.000-05:00

Carey Nelson Sheaffer
22 September 1947 - 5 February 2008

Carey died suddenly on Tuesday, February 5 after a struggle with lung cancer. Carey's death is a great loss to his family and to our Central Pennsylvania community. I have fond memories of many Boy Scout outings spent with Carey and his sons, Jeff and Chris. I was lucky enough to recently re-connect with Carey after many years away from the Susquehanna Valley and truly understand, now as an adult, why he was held in such high esteem when I was young. He will be sorely missed.

Carey's obituary is published in the Daily Item of Sunbury, PA.

Petra

2007-12-29T13:46:00.000-05:00

Some shots of Petra.

"TERRA SANCTA" Tour 2007-08 PART 1

2007-12-28T10:08:00.000-05:00

The first leg of my journey was the departure from Baghdad, which involved a late-night ride across town in an armored bus (the "Rhino"), a few hours crashing at the transient compound at the airport, a military flight into Amman and then a taxi ride to one of Amman's five-star hotels. The rest of the day was spent in a room-service-and mini-bar-induced stupor, watching, for some unexplained reason, two Sandra Bullock movies back-to-back on Jordanian satellite TV. Upon waking up the next morning, I felt sufficiently prepared to launch my pilgrimage across the Holy Land, perhaps in search of redemption, perhaps in search of cheap knick-knacks carved from camel bones. These are products that are offered readily in this region.

JORDAN

I toured some of the sites of Amman, which in ancient times was known as "Philadelphia." There's a fantastic Roman amphitheatre downtown and a citadel on a prominent hill overlooking what was then the ancient town. I chose the typical mode of transportation in Jordan by hiring a taxi driver for the day. I negotiated to be taken to my desired destination, Petra, and we set off. Along the way I was upsold on a few additional sites, making it a very lucrative day for my driver when he finally gave me the final tally at the end of the day, and checked me in to the hotel that he swore would give me a very special rate. They didn't. Along the way I got in my first of the many Bible-related sites I would see over the next three weeks. Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked out across the desert and over the Dead Sea, spying the Promised Land that he was destined to never set foot on; my driver pulled up to the ticket counter and said, "I give you ten minutes here then we go, okay meester?" And thus my tour of the Holy Land began.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out the reason for our next stop was the famed mosaic map of the early Christian world serving as the floor of the St. George's Church in the town of Madaba. I was growing suspicious of my driver's insistence that I 'just had to see' all the additional sites he was bringing me to on what was just supposed to be a two-hour drive south from Amman to Petra. But being a map enthusiast I gave my driver a thumbs up when I finally realized why he was dragging me into what appeared to be a very non-descript church in a very non-descript town. The map, built in 560 AD, once contained over two million pieces and identified every major biblical site along the Levant from Lebanon to Egypt. While much is missing now, enough remains to fire the imagination as to its original grandeur.

I got my first view of the famed Dead Sea as we skirted down its Jordanian coastline, passing a number of resort hotels but the most part driving along a desolate desert cliff side separating a dead sea from a dead land.

Eventually, after a few more stops at some Crusader castles, I made it to one of the major destinations of my trip: the spectacular ancient city of Petra, with its magnificent buildings carved directly out of the rose-colored rock of a hidden cavern.

Holy Land

2007-12-25T11:19:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas. We had a small gathering at the office today and invited a number of our local Iraqi staff in for a celebration involving pizza, a Secret Santa gift exchange and a Guitar Hero tournament. (You really ought to try out Guitar Hero if you haven't yet. Honestly, it rocks. Tell the dude at Best Buy to give it a rest for a minute and then fire up Free Bird. "Righteous, man...")

I leave tomorrow for a short trip through the Middle East; I'm keeping my itinerary fairly fluid, but I will most likely hit the major sites of Jordan, Egypt and Israel. I will try to post along the way, if possible. If you've ever done any traveling over here, feel free to send any suggestions you might have my way. Or tips on any scams involving overpriced drinks in bars with only one exit. I've been known to fall for that one...

Christmas Eve in Baghdad... again

2007-12-24T09:55:00.001-05:00

I'm doing some work in the office tonight; writing up a report on some success a few of our agribusiness specialists have had in rebuilding the poultry business in a rural area just south of the city. These reports, still officially sent out as State Department telegrams and referred to as 'cables,' are our official method of reporting back to Washington. In order to captivate our readership back in DC, bombarded by cable traffic from embassies around the world, we sometimes resort to great lengths to make our reports, sent out in an archaic 12 point Courier painfully unreadable format, as interesting as humanly possible. Which oftentimes means resorting to unspeakably bad puns, forced alliteration and slight exaggeration in our titles and narrative. Despite our efforts, Variety should rest assured that they face no serious competition from State Department reporters. In my twelve-paragraph report I utilized nearly every chicken reference I could muster in an attempt to liven up my story. I'll admit it, it's a fowl report. When I started to run low on material, I just started to wing it. Hopefully, Washington won't think I've laid an egg.

So, I have the option of stopping by the Ambassador's party later, but the office has been quiet today and I may just stay in and finish up a few other reports that I've been meaning to send out. I've been canvassing a number of my Iraqi friends and contacts about their views on alcohol consumption. In any society, booze has facinating social, religious and even political connotations; I've found that you can learn quite a bit about Baghdad by asking a few questions about beer. Historically, Iraq has been very loose about alcohol; as the security situation worsened, religious leaders and extremists took it upon themselves to enforce stricter social codes in Baghdad's neighborhoods. With the recent security improvements in the city, we're seeing more shops openly sell beer and liquor, and more and more Baghdadis go back to their old drinking habits. There is still an enormous amout of tension between those who would like to see a stricter interpretation of Islam and those who would not - and this will continue to play itself out for years to come in this society. But right now it seems as though lots of Iraqis are deciding that after the year that they've just been through, they'd sure like to finish it off with a good stiff drink in their hands.

The last person in the office, besides me, just hit the lights and left. Makes me remember my previous tour here; I spent Christmas Eve 2005 in Baghdad during my rotation with the Army. I was on duty that evening, and was the last one to close up shop for the night. I went through my old postings and pulled this one up:

---------------------------
24 December 2005

I’ve got the last shift on our holiday rotation; I’ll be shutting down the office in a few hours. We maintain communication with headquarters with a computer console linked with a voice-over-internet system. A map of Baghdad with multiple icons indicates recent incidents in our battlespace. I can call up various overlays showing unit boundaries, critical municipal infrastructure, political divisions, etc. We’ve come a long way since the grease pen. I’ve got to keep an ear open for any calls to the ‘Embassy LNO’, our new designation since our office was technically disbanded last week. Lieutenant Colonel M. has just left, leaving me the last one in the office on this Christmas Night. He’s the justice expert; he worked with all the judges here in Baghdad. He’s an army JAG, but he’s looking forward to getting back to his other job designing fuel cells at NASA. He really enjoys corny jokes – more than you think he ought to. He may have a way for me to sneak into the Saddam trial; I’ll let you know if that pans out.

The CNN television in the corner (we’re not allowed to change the channel; in my solitude I may take a risk and flip over to BBC later on) continues to show some retrospective montage of the year; it’s pretty much all about tsunamis and earthquakes and hurricanes. Then there’s the segment on famous dead people – I don’t remember King Fahd being such a headline grabber this year; they place him right before the Pope in the segment that I’ve seen repeated several times already today.

To be honest, it’s been a challenging week. Another Iraqi friend has been assassinated. Again, someone who has worked tirelessly for the past three years to make his country a place he could be proud of. Cut down by thugs; criminals; terrorists; bastards. And a good friend of mine is in the hospital, recuperating after an IED attack on his convoy. We lost two good soldiers. They were out helping the local fire company deal with a chemical spill in the Tigris. I rushed over to the hospital; there seemed to be some unusual activity at the information desk but I wasn’t paying attention- I was asking about my friend when the specialist mentioned the fact that the Secretary of Defense was standing right behind me. I found Roger upstairs; a couple of minutes later Mr. Rumsfeld paid a visit accompanied by General Casey. They were working their way around the entire hospital, visiting injured soldiers. Roger’s not too bad off, considering his driver and gunner were killed nearly instantly. He weakly sat up to shake Rumsfeld’s hand; his leg has shrapnel damage and his left hand took a hit and needed stitches across three fingers. His face has a blast burn on the left side from his ear to his nose. Rumsfeld asked about the kind of mission he was on; Roger told the short version; then he introduced me. Rumsfeld turned to me and said, “So you’re a reservist – and you guys volunteered to come here? Thank you for your service, Captain. Thank you.” He shook my hand and the entourage moved out into the hall. The memorial service was a few days later; much like a family funeral these services are generally the only times to see friends stationed on the many bases across Baghdad, and much like family funerals, they fluctuate between being somber and bittersweet affairs.

Merry Christmas, everybody. Thanks for all the cards and calls and packages and emails – they have been very much appreciated. I’m going to shut down the office now, follow the correct procedures for turning off the equipment, securing the classified documents and making sure the coffee pot is unplugged. I’ve documented a call I received that one of the water treatment plants has lost power; a pretty regular occurrence, but still something that will require immediate attention by our team in the morning. I contemplate leaving cookies out; an aesthetic gesture evoking the season – but my concerns about rodent infestation prevent me. The TV stays on; CNN will continue to loop, unwatched, throughout the night; the memories of the past year will flicker across the walls as images of the dead and the destroyed are projected into the dark. And then the morning will come once again.

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I think I'll wrap up now. Leave the rest of the reports until tomorrow or the next day. Perhaps I'll swing by the Embassy gathering and visit with friends and colleagues; festivities here are awkward affairs but everybody does their best to enjoy the times we are able to set aside for these events. We all realize that we are somebody else's 'next best option;' if your friends here really had their choice, they'd be hanging out with somebody else tonight.

Happy Holidays to everyone- and to all a good night- and if you are in fact hanging out with exactly the people you'd want to be with on a Christmas Eve- take a moment to enjoy that.