Iraq Letters

Interestingly enough a good friend of mine just went to Iraq. He agreed to supply me with a few updates during his time there, which I will post on this blog. This will be his thoughts, as a civilian, of what he sees and feels during his stay in Iraq.

IrnBru001,

Just thought I would drop you a note to say hello.

Life in downtown Baghdad is quite interesting. The base is kind of a tense place but functioning like it is suppose to I guess. The contrasts here, well the best word is surreal. As an example, driving in from the Baghdad airport to the base, wearing body armor and a helmet, riding in this heavily armed convoy of 4 vehicles, each vehicles with rifles pointing out the windows and the lead has a machine gun pointing out the back, driving through bombed and destroyed roads and buildings: then seeing on the side of the road an Iraqi woman walking holding hands with a small child and a man riding a bicycle with her (which made the officers in the convoy nervous), apparently just trying to live in the middle of chaos. Just doesn't seem to fit together, which I guess is the definition of surreal. An image I probably will not soon forget.

Overall, my role is going well, and I am staying safe.