Governor Kaine's Mideast Journal, cont'd
When Americans hear “Iraq,” we think of war, but it was remarkable how much daily life goes on in a peaceful way throughout much of the country. The spring season was obvious as we flew low over tiny farms where people were diligently planting, gathering firewood, and tending livestock.
We approached the outskirts of Baghdad and saw large neighborhoods, many with
obvious war damage: crumpled homes, damaged streets, blocks of land that obviously
had been cleared of debris. Many of these neighborhoods now were packed with
people and traffic.
We made our way to the “IZ”—international zone—at the center of the city, and landed in a tiny military compound FOB (Forward Operating Base) Union.
FOB Union once served as a compound for Saddam Hussein’s hated Republican Guard. The barracks and dining halls now were occupied by American troops.
The center of the compound is a massive headquarters building constructed for the Ba’athist Party in the 1980’s. The compound had been bombed in 2003, and had a massive bomb crater in the middle of the building surrounded by busy offices now occupied by U.S. military personnel.
FOB Union has a great group of Virginians living and working there. In January of this year, 157 Virginia guardsmen from the 654th Military Police Company were called to Baghdad for one year to protect forces, man security checkpoints and provide convoy security. For a number of them, this call is their second tour in Iraq in the last three years.
The 654th provides security escorts for the Iraqi president, vice presidents, and prime minister. In a land where these officials are consistently threatened, the duty of guarding them as they make their way around Iraq is dangerous and demanding. Despite the dangers of the job, the spirits of the Virginia troops were high.
I knew a number of them, either directly or through friends or family. The commander of the unit is Captain Lowell Nevill, a former Richmond police officer I remembered from my days as mayor. He then went on to teach at Fauquier High School in Warrenton, where I unexpectedly ran into him during a school visit when I was lieutenant governor. What a surprise to travel halfway around the world and run into him again in central Baghdad.
The Virginians had cleared the bomb debris from the compound to build a patio Tiki bar – very retro, very cool, and authentic in every detail, right down to the thatched roof – except they were not permitted to have any alcohol.
It was a spring-like day – sunny, with a smoky haze in the air, and
temperatures in the mid-70’s. As we maneuvered around Baghdad in armored
SUVs, we could hear gunfire in the distance but never felt threatened.
We met up with the other governors at one of Hussein’s former palaces, now converted into the U.S. Embassy and the nerve center for military operations. The scale and grandiosity of the palace was immense, and we visited with the commander of coalition forces in Iraq, Army General George Casey. The General told us most of the current insurgent activity is centered in just four of Iraq’s 18 provinces.
Leaving the embassy, we made a brief stop in the center of Baghdad to see various parade grounds and monuments built by Hussein. Huge crossed swords marked a military parade ground, and we stopped at a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier built to commemorate the sacrifice of Iraqi soldiers in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
The tomb has a museum built into its base, memorable for the fact that each of the 50 or so display cases had been completely stripped of its memorabilia. I was reminded of a great phrase I heard when the Iron Curtain fell in Eastern Europe, resulting in repeated scenes of joyous people pulling down statutes of Stalin and Lenin: “When you topple the statues, save the pedestals -- they could come in handy later.”
Our last stop in Baghdad was at the training facility for Iraqi security forces run by a private contractor near the main commercial airport. Private contractors were ubiquitous in Iraq, and it was hard to get used to the idea of war as a “profit center” for business.
About 30 recruits were being trained with a variety of weapons, and in hostage rescue scenarios. Later, they underwent training as bodyguards – responding to a simulated attack on a “principal” that required the recruits to return fire and evacuate the “VIP” from danger.
The spirited training I saw that day demonstrated a growing capacity among Iraqi security forces, but building a police force that is truly a force for law and order, instead of simply an arm of a dictator’s power, will be very slow work.