- Part 1
-
- The last two days found me traveling to the south to
collect data on a report on the water infrastructure, as well as an attempt
to visit Babylon. My traveling companion was an American photographer Max
Whittaker, and ever-trusted Hamoudi, our ace driver and interpreter.
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- Driving south we pass several destroyed Iraqi tanks.
We stop to photograph them, and two Iraqi men are hammering off scraps
of the metal. We tell them they have been hit with Depleted Uranium and
are very poisonous - but the men continue with their work anyhow.
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- We stopped in several villages along the way en route
to Hilla, Najaf, and Diwaniyah to check on peoples drinking water situation,
as these all lie within the area Bechtel is responsible for improving the
water situation.
-
- Most of the water information I obtained will come out
later in a report, so only bits will be included here. This is basically
a diary of a frenetic two day road-trip. But this first little village
just outside of Hilla, found us amidst fields and palm trees, and people
asking us for help. This set the tone of the entire trip.
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- An old man with a weathered face shows us his scrappy
water pump, sitting lifeless with an empty container nearby as there was
no electricity. What water they did have was loaded with salt from the
region, and was making everyone sick - nausea, diarreah, kidney stones,
cramps, and cholera. This too would be a steady trend for the villages
we visited.
-
- Aside from the desperate water situation, the man asks
us if we can help him find his cousin. He pleads to us, "He was in
the Iraqi Army and has been missing since the invasion. We just want to
know if he's dead, so we can bury the body. Can you help us?"
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- We give him information for an NGO that may be able to
help him in Baghdad, and then found our way to occupied Babylon. We failed
to meet up with Jo Wilding and her traveling circus, who were going to
let us be their photographers so as to get into Babylon. See, it's now
the Polish base, as well as other countries. So, the cradle of civilization
is not encircled with spiraling razor wire, sandbags, guard towards, and
heavily fortified checkpoints.
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- As we are entering a convoy of 10 Kuwaiti fuel trucks
driven by overweight Anglo men wearing flack jackets and helmets passes
us. They are escorted by two Humvees. Each truck has a sign on it that
says, 'KBR owned asset'.
-
- Another of the trucks pulling a tank of petrol has a
sign on it that says, 'First Kuwaiti Construction Company.'
-
- The last word I got was that these truck drivers started
out making $125,000 US per year. They won't hire Iraqis because they don't
trust them.
-
- After not finding our friends, we go on in to check out
the press conference for the new Polish general taking the reigns of this
area, Major General Miecyslaw Bieniak. Inside a large tent with cookies
and cakes, we listen to the usual prattle about how they "are here
to help the Iraqi people," and to please stay out of the way of the
convoys.
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- Just yesterday an Iraqi family was killed by getting
in the way of a convoy. When asked about this, one of the Polish soldiers
said, and I quote, "Accidents happen."
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- When the general was asked about having free elections
in Iraq, he looked down and had the body language of someone who was punched
in the stomach. He paused and then gave the usual answer of when security
permits, when the UN thinks it is best, when the CPA feels it is best,
and more of the usual lines. He continually went out of his way to say,
"This is not a military operation, it is a political mission first,
THEN a military operation."
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- Hamoudi was pissed because the general didn't even pronounce
Iraq properly.
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- Needless to say, we weren't allowed to visit Babylon.
So close but so far. You have to pre-arrange it with a military escort-which
entails driving to the camp, putting your name on a list, then coming back
at that time and 'maybe' you'll get in.
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- Why is this historically significant area now an ugly
military camp? As per most other areas in Iraq, one of Saddam's palaces
on a hill overlooking the area is now being used by the military.
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- A large explosion is heard in the distance as we walk
back to the brand new Tacoma we were driven in with. It sites amongst a
parking lot full of Humvees, and other brand new Suburbans and Tacoma's,
each with signs on the windshields that say 'KBR vehicle number', as if
it wasn't obvious.
-
- We pull out of the parking area and pass a small tent
with a sign that reads, 'ATT&T Salutes the Armed Forces. Call home
now!' Chevy, Ford, AT&T, KBR, Halliburton, Bechtel, and how many other
countless multi-nationals are cashing in on the destruction of Iraq?
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- Back out the razor wire and weaving past the suicide
bomber barriers, past the Iraqi man with the badge that says, 'KBR-HCR
Subcontract Labor', and a Polish soldier sitting behind a bunker with an
RPG.
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- Hamoudi tells us just two months ago there was only one
checkpoint outside the base, now there are three. But I never got searched.
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- We carry on towards Najaf, passing several Humvees full
of soldiers from El Salvador, while Max and I give Hamoudi the quick rundown
of the irony of having Central American soldiers in Iraq 'helping' the
US, after what the US government has done to so many countries in Central
America, primarily in the 1980's.
-
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- Part 2 coming tomorrow
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