Gun, missile fire aside, Baghdad’s not all that bad

Originally published in Cumberland Times-News on July 22, 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.

Baghdad, Iraq, August 2004

Ah, the sounds of mortars, rockets and RPGs are becoming more commonplace. Now I don’t even flinch when I hear them. And the frequency is much more often than the trips here in the past.

We have satellite television so we can pick up the Olympics. The Iraqi team has been doing well in soccer and everyone is interested. Each time they win, we go up on the roof of our compound and watch the tracers and listen to the celebration.

Reminds me of the TV reports I used to watch from South Central Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. The celebration lasts for 10 to 15 minutes and there are tracers in all four directions around the International Zone. Cool!!

One of the problems is that whatever goes up must come down. One evening a bullet came down next to one man who was filming the celebration. He recorded the sound of it hitting the pebbles at his feet and replayed it several times. Another bullet hit a light standard in the parking lot and we all heard the “ping.” Then we decided if we wanted to listen and watch the celebration it might be a better idea to wear our helmets. They are now in the semifinals and could pick up a medal. It would be great for them as a country.

We have made some trips out of the international zone to some of the ministry offices. We go in five armored Land Cruisers with two guns (automatic weapons like AK47s) in each vehicle. We carry our helmets but must have the flak jackets on from the time we leave until we are inside and ready for the meetings. The views from the vehicles are great but there is no time to take photos because the drivers
don’t stop for anything. If there is a blockage in the traffic, they turn around in the middle of the road, going over the center divider if necessary, and they find another route. Or they will drive off the road onto the sidewalk if necessary to get around areas with a problem. They alter the route and the timing of each trip so the snipers don’t know when or where we are going. We also visited the Ministry of Finance twice. It is located at the edge of Sadr City, a slum with about two million inhabitants. There is constant fighting and many incidents. The drivers and guards say it is the worst area for travel in Baghdad. The first time was no problem.

The second trip to the Ministry of Finance was yesterday, Aug. 26. While we were in the meeting, we heard rockets going off. Two of the armed guards stay with us during our meetings; one at the door to the office, and the other a bit farther away.

They immediately told us to stay in the room while they checked it out. They came back and said someone was firing rockets a couple of blocks away and were aiming at the Ministry of Oil, which was a few blocks in the other direction. The rockets were going past our building. Welcome to Baghdad.

Life here isn’t really that bad. Good TV and the social life are OK if you enjoy going to the bar in the evenings. There is a big room separate from the bar with a large screen TV where the latest DVDs are shown. There is a library from which I have chosen several novels during the last few weeks. The British Embassy now has a service for washing laundry, which includes ironing shirts and slacks. And there is a laundry with ironing board and iron in our compound if we want to do our own. (I’ll let the embassy do it since there is no cost, thank you.)

On occasion living in this place is like versions I have read from prisoners at minimum-security facilities in the states. All of our activities outside the International Zone must be prearranged and are subject to cancellation if there are other activities. During the National Conference we were locked down.

Some of us are working seven days each week. Most of the 15 people who work for the DFID contractor are now taking Friday off to relax and do other things. And I am counting the days until I am on the plane out of here. Only 12 left…