Consultant quickly gets acclimated to life in Iraq Temperature hits 115 degrees during drive to Basrah
Originally published in Cumberland Time-News on May 13, 2005
Editor’s note: Phil Smith, a 1963 graduate of Ridgeley High School, moved around the United States until the mid-1990s when he became a consultant in developing countries. His work has taken him to Kazakhstan, Russia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Currently residing in Moscow, he has kept journals of his travels. The following are excerpts from those times.
Basrah, Iraq June 2003
After going to London in May for a five-day briefing and some training at Salisbury in nuclear, biological and chemical suits (respirator, boots, two sets gloves, trousers and jacket) three of us left for Kuwait on June 3.
My flight was from Moscow (love those business class frequent flyer miles on Aeroflot) in the morning and I arrived in Kuwait about 7 p.m. The next afternoon we left for Basrah International Airport where the British Army has the headquarters for the southern portion of Iraq. We drove for about three hours from Kuwait City and arrived about 4 p.m.
The temperature during the afternoon drive was reported to be 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit). We were told when we got there that one of two economists would go to another location in Basrah to one of Saddam’s palaces. The other would be sent to a rural area. I held my breath; the other man knew Arabic and he was sent to the rural area.
The first night was an accommodation at the airport. The air conditioning didn’t work but the fan above my top bunk ran all night. The soldier below snored the loudest of any person I have ever heard. I slept about an hour.
The next morning they transferred me to the palace.
When I arrived at the Brigade HQ my contact took me directly into a meeting in progress to discuss the payment of the monthly pensions to 80,000 local pensioners and how we were going to complete the logistics for security and payment to that number of people. We had discussions all day and finished dinner at 9 p.m.
Then they took me to my room. It is a huge room of about 50′ x 50′. There is a balcony about 8′ x 30′ that overlooks the large river just south of the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. The bed is an Army cot. The first night I couldn’t find the thermostat and the room was about 12 C (55F). I had to open the sleeping bag and crawl inside to stay warm. When I walked to the outside toilet at 2 a.m., it was still about 35C (95F) outside.
Residents crowd a bazaar in Basrah, Iraq.
The palace was built by Saddam when he took over a former park that has about 100 acres. There are servants’ quarters, guard quarters, and four separate large buildings, each of which is a lovely palace by itself. The office where I work has no A/C and is extremely hot during the day. This will be a great museum, convention center or resort sometime in the future.
We have made three trips into Basrah. Each time, we take two Army jeeps (of course, the British Land Rover) with two armed soldiers in each jeep. We have had no problems. The kids and many of the adults wave and say hello or give a “thumbs-up” to the soldiers.
Basrah does not have damage to the extent of Kabul, Afghanistan. Many of the government buildings were bombed but not many of the houses. We have looked at houses for future consultants or use as branch banks. The houses are in better condition than Kabul and some are very well furnished.
The city is very active with many businesses now open. Just about everything is now available. The local people say there is more available now then before the war.
There have been some demonstrations by certain groups over non-payment of salaries or complaints about things not done yet. It has been eight weeks since the war ended here and everyone wants everything now!
On the third day here, we visited the Basrah branch of the central bank of Iraq. We think we can clean the debris from the building and have it open soon. It was looted constantly and burned twice. Now it just needs to be cleaned out, cosmetically finished and then we can open and pay pensions in a couple of weeks.
Security for the local people is still very poor. There are no businesses left to loot so the looters have started on residences. If the owner was suspected of being with Saddam, he is a target. Cars and trucks are stolen all the time. Some people have built walls around their cars to keep them from being taken.
The local police never had training and were primarily used to keep people in line. They made most of their money from bribes. The new police force is having the same problems. During the briefings with the commander each day, I hear the activity from the previous night. There are still assassinations almost each day. The locals are taking care of the party members who gave them difficulties before the war.
Well, that’s enough for now. Back to work. Because the Army works each day, I work with them. There isn’t much else to do and we can’t go anywhere outside the compound.