Cyndi Scarlett in Baghdad

About six months ago, it was announced that Iraqis would be taking over some of the patrols in and around Baghdad - and I know they have been doing so, but it hasn’t been visible anyway from where I’m sitting.

This morning however, I saw the most amazing sight.  A convoy of 10 humvees - newly painted with the Iraqi flag - some even flying large Iraqi flags - soldiers inside with a gunner in his turret up top all suited up and headed out of the IZ on patrol.

Progress - it seems to come in baby steps here and in fits and starts. Perhaps it’s taken six months for the Iraqis to be fully trained using our equipment - which is now their equipment.  I don’t know. 

 I do know that for every Iraqi patrol out there, that’s hopefully one less of one of ours.  

It turns out yesterday was one of the worst days we’ve had so far in Baghdad.  The gunfire we heard  during the baptism service was only a small fraction of the fighting that went on here over the weekend taking the lives of 8 US servicemen and almost 100 Iraqis.  I know more than likely some of the soldiers who died are ones I have seen leaving the IZ in their humvees daily.  I wonder about the young woman I talked to - and whether she’s OK. It’s heartbreaking.

It wears on a persons mind when we hear explosions - when we hear mortars - when we hear protracted gunfire.  We know that lives are being lost at that very moment more than likely.  It’s not something one gets away from as it is on-going here.  While we live in the IZ, we are all close enough to the rest of the city, indeed this is part of the rest of the city - it’s just been walled off - so we hear much of what goes on.

One of our local staff came to work today - nothing apparently wrong - smiling as usual.  A wonderful guy - who has had to move into the IZ with his family due to death threats because he works for the “US”. 

I asked him how the weekend was.  I always ask our local people - but am usually afraid to hear the answer as most of the time, there isn’t much good to report.

 He was thanking God that his life was spared by what he imagines couldn’t have been more than 2 seconds on Sunday.  He had just passed through security at what is called the “American Hotel” but is really the Palestine Hotel, where many journalists stay and said he had just walked behind the T-wall when a blast hit that sent everything flying.  He turned and looked around - the three policemen that had been there had been vaporized - nothing left - gone…   a bus had pulled up to let people off - a regular city bus with eighteen people on it - along with a suicide bomber.  Everyone on the bus was killed - many standing nearby were killed, including the policemen and scores were wounded.  He spent the greater part of the day trying to get people the help they needed.  He is fed up with what is going on.  He does not understand this radical islamic stance that has caused the sectarian violence.  He does not understand the insurgents and why they kill innocent people - nor why if the US or coalition forces are accused of killing innocent civilians, the same standard doesn’t apply to the insurgents and militias who appear to kill with impunity.  He, along with most Iraqis are caught in the middle of a huge mess and feel quite helpless to do anything about it.

I think of the people that are living in the middle of all of this carnage.  We are protected in here to a great degree. I just can’t imagine what it must be like to be living in the middle of all of this.  It is estimated that in the past several months, over 10,000 Iraqis have lost their lives due to sectarian and insurgent violence.  It is pretty much accepted that Iran is the major funder in all of this by everyone here.

When/if you pray, please pray for Iraq  - for the people of Iraq - and of course for the service men and women who are here from a variety of countries.   In fact, I would encourage you all to pray for the Middle East in general.   I see this entire situation spiraling out of control and fear we could end up in a 3rd world war - with disasterous results if Iran goes nuclear.  I will stop before I start sounding like one of the pundits I have so disaparaged!

Blessings to you all.

Today after church four young army soldiers were baptised outside the chapel.  Someone had dug a hole in the ground about waist deep, lined it with plastic, then filled it with water  and surrounded it with sandbags.

The sounds of a gun battle greeted us as we filed out of the chapel to watch and support those that were being baptised.  No one said anything as the occasion was as you would imagine quite reverent - but we all looked at each other as normally, gunfire is not close enough for us to hear.

Despite the noise, the first soldier climbed down into the Baptismal as two chaplains knelt down on the ground to baptise him. 

As he began to give his testimony, everything became quiet.  I’m not sure how to explain what the quiet after a gun battle sounds like.  It’s a very profound quiet, always.  Some of you probably know what I’m talking about.  It’s kind of like breathing again after holding your breath -  and only realizing at that moment, you had been holding your breath.

The baptism continued as all four came forward and were baptised.  It was a beautiful service - seeing Christians baptised in the middle of Baghdad. 

As soon as the service ended, almost on cue, the battle began again.  I haven’t heard yet where the fight was - who was involved  - or why.  I would imagine before the day ends,  we’ll probably hear - or perhaps, you all will hear it before we do on the news. 

I’m sure there are several “rational” explanations as to why there was a pause in the battle at the precise moment Christians were being baptised here.  I choose to believe otherwise.  I believe I heard a miracle today. 

I thank God daily for the miracle He has performed in my life - I am alive - I am able to work - and not just work in any old place - but well enough to work in a place like Baghdad.   Sometimes though, I forget to thank Him for the little things - things just as miraculous as my being alive - perhaps even more so - miracles like calming a battle in the middle of a war while young men were publically declaring their faith in Him.  I think sometimes, particularly here where things are not great, that it’s easy to focus on what’s wrong instead of what’s right.  It’s easy to miss God working in every situation because I’m not paying close enough attention.  He’s funny like that - He doesn’t usually beat us over the head - He whispers and if I’m paying attention like I was today, I’ll get to see His miracles at work around me. How awesome is that!

 Amen. 

Blessed Sabbath to you all. 

I have not been happy with the food here – it’s high in fat – lots of it is deep fried – high in carbohydrates – I don’t think I’ve seen anything actually grilled here.  We sometimes have fresh prawns or lobster – but the way it’s prepared isn’t healthy. Don’t get me wrong, I love this food - and it tastes great - but I know if I keep eating like this, I’m going to weigh 600 pounds by the time I leave.  

I’ve asked for and gotten permission to have my kitchen redone at the villa – and to hire my own chef and purchase my own food (or have it flown it) all paid for by Uncle Sam.  One would think that in light of what I’ve said above, I should help eat all that food that is being thrown away…. A case could be made for that.  But, I think the reason that they were so amenable to doing this is possibly they are going to stop civilians from eating in the military mess halls in the near future – so we’d have to have a way to eat.  Right?  This way, we can control what we eat – how it’s prepared – eat when we want to – and not throw stuff way.  I’m pretty happy about that! The kitchen renovation is starting next week.  Then we’ll start interviewing chefs.  I have to source out where we’ll get the food because one can’t buy a lot of stuff off the local market so most of everything has to be flown in.  There are ways though to piggy back onto what other larger contractors are doing which is what I imagine I’ll do.  I hear they have an absolutely HUGE PX out at the airport where one can buy just about anything.  It would cost me $6,000 in PSD fees to go out there to shop – and expensive shopping trip wouldn’t you say?  But there are ways to get access to the stuff that’s there by having others that are going anyway to shop for us.   

Who would have thought that I could write a whole blog on what and how we eat.  This is about all the excitement we can stand in a week.  When going to the PX here in the IZ is our big outing for the week – well, there’s not a lot of excitement to share.   Now with my fully equipped kitchen and chef, I can entertain.  Maybe the next 20 months aren’t going to be so bad after all!:) 

Blessings and much love to everyone!

I can’t name names because I don’t want to be sued… just take my word for it.  Some of the worlds “brightest” and “best” have somehow found their way to Iraq to be hired guns.  Working for companies that have government contracts and therefore are somehow connected to the government.  They provide security for folks like me - for Iraqi politicians - for Department of State people - anyone really that is doing something that could be dangerous or life threatening and in Iraq, that’s just about everything.

 There is a whole sub-culture that goes along with these types of people – lots of tattoos – or “tats” as they’re called – all over the body – men and women have these.  Many are very beefed up – in fact some walk around looking like apes – literally.   Then there are the guns and the cars.  Boys and their toys…. (please don’t take offense men, you know it’s true) – the bigger the cars – and the more guns, the better.  On the backs of their vehicles  - mostly 4WD Suburban-type vehicles, they have printed signs much like on the backs of military vehicles,  telling people to stay back – lethal force will be used – as though they are some type of paramilitary group or something.  Some walk around with long black coats on – even though it’s 115 degrees – and big combat boots – although it’s doubtful they’ve ever seen a day of combat and probably won’t here either.   They run around the IZ in packs terrorizing local drivers – and sometimes international ones as well.  I’ve been told that there are over 200 warrants out for the arrests of these people by the Iraqi government for a variety of offenses – including “wrongful death”.  This was told to me not by an Iraqi but by one of their own who is definately in the “know”.  I was told that in one night, the US government whisked over 60 out of the country to avoid these warrants.  After all, this is a war and “things happen”.   The other day I was in the PX and I saw the funniest sight.  You must know first that the PX is in the IZ – so not just anyone can go there.  Second, to get into the parking lot of the PX, one must display the CAC.  Should someone slip through however that doesn’t have a CAC, one must again display their CAC before entering the PX area.  All along the route there are armed guards watching everything going on.   So, imagine the above – and then imagine that someone who has a PSD decides they want to go shopping at the PX.  The PSD brings them to the PX in full convoy.  But, that’s not enough.  Once in the PX, the PSD stood guard over this person with their weapons drawn – looking around suspiciously at everyone walking by.  I have no idea who the person was that they were “protecting” - but it was pretty funny.  You know me and my mouth – I certainly wanted to say something cheeky to them as I walked by but thought better of it. I am so thankful to report that my PSD does not behave this way.  Everything is professional but very low key.  My guys are obviously in very good shape – but they don’t look like apes.  They don’t walk around with their guns drawn in the IZ.  In fact, they don’t even draw there guns when we’re out of the IZ.   I told the head of my detail the other day that I guess it’s a matter of “having it” and “not having it” – my guys are all ex special forces.  They have been there, done that – they have nothing to prove to anyone.  They are just here taking care of business.  I’m glad they’re taking care of me.

I told her that every time I see the soldiers leaving on patrol I pray for their safety and that when I see them coming back in, I am thankful they made it back safely.  She told me that they all do the same thing and that after every patrol they come back, are able to relax and mark another day off the calendar that they’re alive.  I just can’t imagine that.  I told her that they all have my huge admiration and respect and that no matter what folks might think of the war itself, that we are behind the soldiers one hundred per cent.  She looked me in the eye and said, “thank you ma’am that means a lot to us.  We never know really how others see us here and what people think back home.”  That bothers me so much.  Here they are, these young people, men and women out here daily putting their lives on the line – and they don’t know if America is behind them or not.  How demoralizing.  Of course they see what the press is saying about what’s going out here. 

After being here this past month and getting just a very small taste of what’s going on, I can hardly stand to watch and listen to all these political pundits who sit in studios somewhere and pontificate and try and second guess what should be done – what could have been done – how all these mistakes are being made – how awful everything is…  I find myself turning the channel.  I know, I know I can hear you all saying – “is she confused?  She says she didn’t agree with this war either”! No, I’m not confused. This war has become so politicized – and the media for the most part so against what we are doing here – it seems anyway, folks have forgotten the people that are here on the ground fighting this war.   We’re here – and whether or not we should be, is moot.  How anyone thinks for a second that we should be able to start drawing down our forces in Iraq by December is naïve in my opinion.  Even the Iraqi’s who don’t like us here, want us here because despite the few bad apples that have done highly publicized bad things, they know for the most part, what law and order is here, is here because of the coalition forces.  It seems to me leaving prematurely would be adding insult to injury.   While I don’t agree with President Bush on much about this war, I do agree with him on this point. We need to stay the course – for however long that is.   I had an interesting discussion the other night with one of my colleagues.  He was going on and on about the “neo-cons” – and the “damn conservatives” who have taken over the US – the religious right… he was on a roll.  I listened - let him go on for a bit and then I asked if he had ever actually met one of these “conservative, fundamentalist Christians” that he was talking about.  No, he said, he hadn’t actually because he doesn’t have friends like that – and doesn’t know anyone who does.  I put my hand out and told him I wanted to introduce myself to him – that I’m one of those conservative, fundamentalist Christians he’d been talking about and now he can say he’s met one.  While he was more than slightly embarrassed, he had to admit that I certainly didn’t seem to be the kind of person he had perceived fundamentalist Christians to be.   He said he thought all of us were behind this war, never questioned the President – neither the Administration – that we are all hawks instead of doves.  We ended up having a really amazing conversation and I was able to show him that perhaps his perceptions had been wrong or at least over generalized – that it’s possible to appreciate the President’s values – to agree with him on many issues – but disagree on others and still be  patriotic, upstanding and a fundamentalist Christian. With all the political partisan babble that comes out of Washington from the left and the right - both believing and espousing their side is more patriotic than the other,  I  have found myself asking what a patriotic American looks like?   Since being in Iraq, I’ve had no need to look further than the vast majority of the service men and women who are serving here with pride and dignity.  They make me proud to be an American.  

Until next time - blessings to you all.

I had to wait until I could ask one of my local colleagues about it.  Come to find out, there is a huge fuel shortage even though oil is almost back to pre-war levels.  He sees the irony in this – as he said, “Iraq is potentially the third largest oil producer in the world, yet we don’t have enough fuel for our own people”  – I don’t know whether that’s true or not but he says they all just have to live with it.  Apparently, people line up for days – and they will take shifts to sit with their vehicle.  Gas is cheap at the gas stations – but rationed.  Many people earn their living by filling their vehicle up with fuel – then selling it off at huge black market prices – then go right back and get in line again and start the whole process all over again.    The taxis I saw don’t actually carry people for money – it’s the gas that they get and sell that pays the bills.  Same with the old beat up vehicles – many of which really are barely drivable.  One is not allowed to put fuel into cans or bottles, it has to go into a vehicle – so, vehicles are supposedly driven, pushed, pulled or gotten into line by any means available so the owner can fill up and then sell the gas off liter by liter.     

My next meeting was in a much nicer neighborhood and in a compound that has two multi-storied hotels in it.  Both hotels have been completely taken over by organizations that live and work in the RZ.  Among all of them, they’ve gotten together to form a very tight ring of security around both hotels – T-walls, razor wire – the usual road block thingy’s  - they have a name, I can’t remember – like huge concrete barriers you see down the middle of a highway – “J” some things. It’s interesting to me how these are placed effectively leading up to checkpoints making cars drive in an S pattern necessitating driving quite slowly.  That way, the car bombers can’t get up enough speed to run through the check points.  Everything has been well thought out in that regard.  And of course should one think they might get through – well, there’s the ever present Abrams tank sitting there ready to blast away - at least at the military checkpoints.    

All of these organizations are essentially held prisoner in this compound.  They rarely if ever go out.  Their entire lives revolve around what is going on between the two hotels in the compound.   I really didn’t see how they could actually get any work done never leaving there – but, after meeting with a group to discuss a project, it was clear they do – and seemingly very well.  I can’t explain how US and other multi-national organizations are working all over Iraq.  Mostly they use local staff to implement these projects and on occasion, the expatriates will go and take a look and see what’s going on.  It’s a testament to the Iraqi spirit that anything much is being done in this country. 

As I’ve said before, those that are seen to be working for any of the “US” organizations, are very much at risk.  There are forces in this country that do not want to see progress, particularly progess at the hands of the US.  Now, if it were Hizbollah, or Hamas that was in here with tons of money rebuilding Iraq, that would be a different story.  The insurgents and militias know that whoever is seen as providing assistance, will for the most part be viewed positively - therefore they go to extreme lengths to ensure that the people of Iraq don’t know where the assistance is coming from.  I’d hazzard a guess to say that most of what we do here is not attributed to the US - it can’t be  - otherwise those carrying out the projects would be killed.  As a result, the perception the Iraqi people have of the US isn’t being improved to any great extent.  It’s a catch 22 really.  If we publicize that projects are ours, the people implementing them either won’t work - or if they do, will be killed - and if that happens, no work would get done.  This is a very complicated place to work.  I don’t know much but I do know that there will be no easy solution.

I could write pages of anecdotal stories about projects and the difficulties - huge challenges facing the implementers.  Good things are happening.  Of course bad too.  All it seems one hears about however, are the bad things.  Because of the work I do, I am able to dig deeply into programs that are US funded here – to really look what’s going on – and the impact these programs are having on the people of Iraq.  Overall, people are just doing the best job they know how to do under the most horrendous circumstances imaginable.  Has money been wasted?  You bet it has.  Has it been worth it?  I don’t know.  We won’t know for years perhaps.  I have to believe that despite all the bad, we are doing some good, somewhere.  That we are making a difference in someone’s life.  If I didn’t, I’d pack up and go home tomorrow.  

A note about my writing… I write these blogs in about fifteen minutes so you just get what you get.  For you English teacher professional type people out there – sorry if these make you grimace and want to edit.  I know I write in run on sentences, that my tenses don’t always match, that my spelling is atrocious and that’s probably just the beginning of the issues!      Until next time, peace to all.

I cannot talk much about my meeting, who I met with – or why.  Suffice to say, it was very interesting.  We shared a coke – shared some information and he was gone.  He told me during the meeting, that in some places in Iraq, if someone is found with even a piece of paper on them with something written in English, they will be considered “collaborators of the enemy” and killed on the spot.  I am working with some very, very brave people who want desperately to see Iraq come right and who are every day putting their lives and the lives of their families in mortal danger to do the kind of work we need done.  I admire them greatly.  

With a quick goodbye, I walked back to the door to leave but was stopped by Dave. Apparently, the team has to first check outside and the vehicles must be brought up and be ready to go before I can leave the building.  So I wait. In short order, here came my cars – the driver of my car got out, opened the back door – got back into the driver seat  - only after which Dave said we were ready to go.  He rushed me down the stairs – helped me into the back seat, slammed the door – ran around, jumped into the front passenger seat and off we went.  On to the next meeting. Until next time…    Blessings to you all!

I have now attended the three worship services that are held here at post. I understand that there is a Catholic Mass as well, but I haven’t attended that.

The first one I attended, well, let me back up. The church services and Chaplain’s offices are in a round, rather ornate building in the middle of a somewhat large pond which is connected to canals that run through this part of the IZ. I guess these were built for effect. There are places with ladders that would appear allowed folks to go swimming in these canals. I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone availing themselves of this pastime since my arrival. I have seen a couple of soldiers fishing there – don’t know if they caught anything.

Any way, I digress… this building, which is now the Chapel, I’m told, was where Saddam entertained important guests. The large rooms behind the round room is where, so rumor has it, his guests were taken to be “entertained” by various women. These are now used as the Chaplains offices. There are very unusual paintings on the walls in the rooms – they look like what I would consider Biblical- type scenes. Perhaps, they are scenes from the Quran. Who knows? It’s all rather strange. Whether true or not, it makes a nice story to think that we might be worshiping in a place that was used for such activities in the past.

Church services are held on Sunday’s here, even though Sunday is a work day in Iraq. Perhaps it’s because every day is a work day for a soldier. It does make it a little more difficult for me to get to a service as meetings are scheduled that I am often expected to attend. That said, I have decided that if it is within my power, I will not schedule anything during church times and will make every effort to attend at least one of the services on Sunday.

The first service I attended was the “liturgical” service. The Chaplain that has this service is from the South and as someone said, he could be a real life Forest Gump – or perhaps, Gomer Pyle. He’s wonderfully sincere but somehow, just doesn’t bring the kind of gravitas I would expect to a liturgical service. There are about ten people I’m told that regularly attend this service. I believe I made eight when I attended. There is an out of tune piano that someone was playing – at times well, other times not so well – but he gets an A for effort – the singing – well, let’s not even go there. The Chaplain brought a wonderful message from the 23^rd Psalm, bringing out things that I had never thought about before and very fitting for this environment. While I wanted to say that I’d keep attending this service, if only to boost the attendance by one, I realized that I don’t have time during the day to attend all three so I wanted to see what else is available before deciding on a Church home.

The second service I attended is called the “Gospel” service. It has a Full Gospel Chaplain as the pastor. And, it shows. This time we had an electronic key board with a very talented musician playing – the chapel was about a quarter full – maybe 50 people in attendance – there was a worship team/choir and even a drummer. The music was spirited – lots of standing, swaying and clapping while singing with enthusiastic congregational participation. I attended this service with the Chaplain in charge of all the Chaplains – a Nazarene – who come to find out had attended my home church in Olathe Kansas while he was in Seminary and we know many of the same people. It’s a small world, isn’t it?

The third service I attended is the Contemporary Non-denominational Protestant service held on Sunday morning. Well attended, with a sort of choir and the same musical instruments as the Gospel service, somehow, it seemed more to me like home and more than likely, this is where I will attend church. Might have something to do with the fact that the Chaplain in charge of this service is Nazarene. About the same number attend this service as the gospel service - almost all military. I think there were only about three or four civilians there including me.

As I’ve sat in these services, I’ve wondered why there aren’t more people in attendance. Here we are, in arguably one of the most dangerous places in the world – and yet folks are not thinking about things eternal. That’s very sad to me. There are approximately 5,000 Americans living and working in the IZ. This does not count the hundreds if not thousands of foreign nationals that are here to provide support for what we do. Please pray with me that somehow the ministry of the Chaplains will be blessed and grow. I am prayerful too that I will be able to find a way to be a part of this vital ministry.

Blessings to you all.

You may remember that Iran and Iraq fought a protracted war against each other for most of the ‘80’s. Saddam Hussein started the war with an Iraqi land and air invasion of western Iran. He claimed that this was in response to Iran’s artillery attacks on Iraqi towns. In reality, this war was over the control of a waterway that empties into the Persian Gulf. The Iraqi offensive was initially successful, capturing the port city of Khorramshahr by the end of 1980. Iranian resistance proved strong, however, forcing Iraqi troops to withdraw from the occupied portions of Iran by early 1982. Nevertheless, the Iranian leader at the time, Ruhollah Khomeini declared that Iran would not stop fighting until Saddam’s regime was toppled. Iran began a series of offensives, which proved successful enough to cause Iraq to resort to the use of chemical weapons, a tactic reviled by the international community. In its war effort, Iran was supported by Syria and Libya and received much of its weaponry from North Korea and China as well as, you’ll remember (Iran contra), covert arms transactions with the US – who was actually playing both sides of the fence. The war was finally stopped by a UN resolution. It is estimated that at least 1.5 million souls lost their lives in this war. Needless to say, there was a lot of enmity between the two countries.

You may wonder why I’m giving you a boring history lesson here. There is a point to all of this…and I will get there. 

In 1997, Iran elected a relatively moderate president, Mohammad Khatami who improved relations with the West, including the US. Many of his reforms were opposed by hard-line conservatives in the clergy, judiciary and military. His first administration was not terribly successful. Never the less, he ran again and was re-elected with more than three fourths of the vote in 2001 as Iranians continued to support greater democracy and social freedom. Finally, Iran was moving towards the center and real democracy.

Democracy – rule by the people is great isn’t it – as long as “the people” think and act like we think they should? Some where along the line, the tide turned (could this turning of the tide have anything to do with our invasion of Iraq?) and the Iranian people began supporting increasingly “radical” political candidates, culminating in the election of the current president, Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad, in August 2005. One must note that Iran’s population mix is not unlike Iraq’s – with Shi’a Muslim’s comprising 89% of the population.

We all sat and watched the national Iraqi elections. I’m sure most of you were feeling much like I was – proud that finally an oppressed people were free to vote and choose their leaders. Of course it came as no surprise that given the large majority of Shi’a Muslims in Iraq that a Shi’a leader would be elected. Are you aware however, that this Shi’a leader had been living in Iran – and come back to Iraq after the 2003 coalition invasion? Are you aware that many of the central government positions have been filled by Iraqi Iranians? Are you aware that the current ruling party in Iraq is at the least sympathetic to the Hizbollah? Are you aware that Iranians are pouring into the country to provide assistance to the insurgency – much of it with the tacit approval of the Iraqi government who supports Iran? I certainly wasn’t aware of any of this before I got here.

So, let’s take stock.

We are at war in a country whose leadership on one hand is supportive of the US – and the other, supportive of and sympathetic to those we are fighting. We have young men and women who are losing their lives daily fighting insurgents as well as those fomenting sectarian violence that the Iraqi government is in reality doing little to quell. One reads about sectarian militias dressed in Iraqi army and police uniforms, making it difficult to tell who they are – fact is, many of these people ARE in the Iraqi army and police force – they wear the uniform to their “day” job – and then fight alongside the militias – in their off hours. Every Iraqi I’ve met has told me that indeed, they are terrified of their own army and police force – many of whom are fighting alongside Iranians in a bid to create even more havoc in the country. And, we have a president in Iran who is working diligently towards building effective nuclear weapons and has publicly stated he wants to wipe Israel off the map. Well, we wanted it – and we got it – a democratic Iraq. Are we ready to accept what that might mean? Like I said, maybe we’d better be careful what we wish for.