The International Zone ...

Well, I finally went outside the comfy confines of the base today. Kenny and I had an appointment with two Colonels we support in the International Zone. Baghdad is divided up into parts where the war still rages and areas where the coalition has some control. Camp Victory is on the west side of the city near the airport, and the IZ is smack dab in the center. Many of you will remember the IZ from the ‘Shock and Awe’ campaign. This is where most of the first few nights of the war were fought with Tomahawk missiles and bombs dropped from aircraft. Now it is the part of the city where everyone is setting up embassies. It’s only about ten miles from Victory to the IZ, but it’s ten miles on one of the more dangerous roads in Baghdad, historically (it’s relatively safe now).

The trip is made several times a day by ‘Rhino,’ an armored bus that travels with a convoy of armored humvees for more protection. Despite the massive amounts of armor on the Rhino, you still feel very vulnerable. I spent the trip looking out the front window at everything on the road, half expecting it to be an IED or suicide bomber. The great thing about traveling in a convoy is, we OWN the road. The humvees make it VERY clear to other traffic that they need to stop and let us pass. The kids riding in these things are rarely older than 20, but they are battle hard veterans. I was impressed with how professional the convoy group was. Needless to say, we made it to the IZ without a scratch, and met our contact there who drove us around. We had plenty of time before the scheduled meeting, so we did some sightseeing.

The IZ has all of the landmarks you see on TV (because most of the reporters base themselves out of there). Tim (our contact) took us by the infamous ‘crossed swords’ and parade grounds. This is the place where the famous picture of Sadaam was standing there dressed like a military clown holding the shotgun in the air. I couldn’t help myself, I had to have this photo.

We couldn’t decide if this place reminded us more of the Nazi parade grounds during the 30’s-40’s or the famous pictures of the Soviets during the May Day parades. I just wonder why one needs to have your whole military parade by you for a photo-op. I’m guessing it’s an inferiority thing. The other amazing thing was, these parades were held in the summer in Baghdad … it’s HOT in the summer in Baghdad … but that doesn’t matter when you have your very own seat air conditioner. Nothing was too good for the Baathists, who cares that your people are starving and poor, more perks for the ruling party!! Wow, I sound like a Democrat.

Tim then took us to FOB Prosperity in the IZ, where he works. On the way, we stopped by the ‘heads of Sadaam.’ These giant heads were placed on top of one of his palaces, convienently the same palace where Tim’s office is. Apparently the story is: At the end of the ground campaign in 2003, each Battalion/Brigade was allowed to take home one war trophy for the command museum. One of the Brigades got the bright idea to take Sadaam’s head home. As much as they tried, they could not fit it in anything to ship. So, they did the next best thing, they took the crown off of one of the heads and brought it home. So now, we have two giant Sadaam heads on Prosperity, one’s just missing it’s big crown.

I did find it quite funny that not everyone thinks the Sadaam heads are such a bad thing, the birds seem to enjoy having Sadaam's head as a roomy, if not twisted, home.

We went up to the palace where Tim’s office is, and discovered why the U.S. wins wars. Our soldiers are great, but our technology is AMAZING, specifically, our smart bombs and cruise missiles. We wandered around the palace and looked at some of the rubble. The floor where Tim worked had several tiny bomb holes in it, but other than that, it was fine. The lower floors however … wow.

These bombs and missiles will make a small hole for as long as they are programmed until they explode. This being said, the building was damaged from the inside out, and not the other way around. All in all it was quite the exciting trip. I’m exhausted. I know I’m leaving out some amazing stuff, but hopefully I’ll remember for a later edition. Sleep calls me, and I’m going to answer. Until tomorrow.

-Grease out.