The International Zone

Yesterday afternoon I went to the International Zone(IZ) in central Baghdad where the government and Coalition headquarters are  located, not to meet an official nor to attend a press conference for them, but to go to Diyala.

An American reporter and I were supposed to embed with the Iraqi army in Diyala and the safest way to be there is by air. We arrived at the helicopter around 6:30 pm, two hours before the scheduled flight. At that helicopter pad I was the only Iraqi passenger. Most of them were soldiers on missions and some of them were foreign civilians, whether from the American embassy or those who have contracts with it.

   Unfortunately, our helicopter didn't take off and neither did most the others because of bad weather. There was a sand storm and the helicopters were on hold. Around midnight we decided to spend the night at a room reserved for media reporters in the Combined Press Information Center(CPIC) in the IZ.

Before I went to bed I read a book that I found there which prompted this blog. It was a foreign reporter's account of what he had seen in Iraq after the invasion in 2003.

  One of the important things he mentioned was that those who lived in the IZ don't know what was going on just a few miles from them. He said that he was in Khadimiyah neighborhood where four suicide bombers had killed dozens of people that morning. In the IZ no one was talking about it when the reporter dined with officials there.

It is still the same today. Iraqi officials live in luxury and don't know what is going on just a few miles from them and what is happening across the country they rule.

They don't care that Iraqi people lack power supply, drinking water, medical care, security, housing and a decent standards of living. We hear that millions of dollars have been spent on these problem in addition to education and transportation, but all in vain. Corruption and lack of planning are a great obstacle to progress but maybe just venturing out of the International Zone for a few nights could teach them what we suffer. Maybe then we'll see progress.

Comments

[Davis]

Oh, shut up -- all of you. Why WOULD anyone venture outside the IZ if they didn't have to? What, do you WANT more Americans killed?? Do you WANT one less father for a child?

Some of them, and I'm speaking specifically of American military personnel have jobs to do inside the IZ. Some have left their families for a year to do that job -- probably a year and a minute more than any of you pitiful hacks would do for your country, EVER.

It's a hellava lot easier to post from your safe and secure U.S. position than it is from the IZ. And I wonder how many days this reporter spent there before he headed back to HIS safe, comfortable home?

-- A soldier's wife.

[Jeanie B]

I wrote more or less the same thing about BUsh. He just doesnt care what is going on in Iraq. I am in contact with some Iraqis and I do know a little of what it is really like there. The picture I saw just this week of the young boy walking in front of his home and IN FRONT OF HIM NOTHING BUT A RIVER OF GARBAGE.It is shameless what has happened in Iraq. The I read ow people are surviving by living in abandoned government apartments. And now they are being made to leave.
I am so sorry for the orphans, the wounded, the homeless,the injured,the aging,the crippled,the fearful,and the ones that now live without hope. And Bush stands back and say,""A job well done."" He doesn't see beyond his nose or he would see the suffering. Some of us do see and care. And why should these rich as--- get out. they have electric. they have more than enough water. They have good food to eat. They have toilets that actually flush the filth away(well that is debatiable since some of them are filth) Their children dont cry at night because of fear. They all sleep in a soft comfortable bed. So why should they go out to see the real world. They might get dirt on their shoes..Its already on their hands.

[Gerald M. Rittenberg]

You have merely given voice as to why we read your invaluable blog - to hear what is really happening in Iraq. To give credence to most Iraq or US govts. reports is not worth the time.

[Asphodel]

Why is that a surprise? They say that life within the IZ there is as safe as it is here in Kuwait, from the parties to the hope of all the expansion and comfort levels the plans for the IZ involve by the day.

[Pole]

Out of sight, out of mind....

[R J Adams]

Why should they go outside? Don't they have a wonderful life without venturing out of their nice safe cocoons? Besides, The US media is declaring life in Iraq to be fine for ordinary citizens these days. The surge was a great success, apparently.
Like the American media, those living in the IZ prefer fantasy to reality.

[Shelly T.]

Don't they get out even with people like Blackwater guarding them? Or maybe that's why they don't want to get out much. Maybe they need reporters to come to them. It's hard to believe their curiosity is that low.