180 Days in the Green Zone

*** Baghdad was no longer a safe city but a big jungle full of concrete walls and barbed wire with plenty of random shootings, deafening explosions of booby trapped cars, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and the mortar bombs falling indiscriminately or away from their original targets ending up on top of innocent people. *** I couldn't prevent myself from contemplating that while I was asleep the door might be banged wide open with armed men and big snarling wolf dogs waking me up from deep sleep! I guessed some insomnia could be also attributed to change of place and bed. I eventually felt too tired to care about what would happen and surrendered to slumber. *** Around 6.30 a.m. I started hearing a group singing in harmony for about twenty minutes which I found about later as some customary singing by the UN Fijian guards followed mornings and evenings too. Colleagues told me about their weekly sessions when they gathered to drink together the Kava, which contained some plant roots mixed with water and drank with a relaxing effect. My colleague Ahmed was a devout Muslim who would not drink Alcohol, told me that he had joined the Fijians and drank with them Kava.......... Colleagues who joined the Kava celebration explained the ritual of taking the Kava drinking bowl around in a circle so that everybody took a gulp, while all clapped their hands in rhythm. *** Meeting the Marines When I reached the crossing/roundabout leading to the Melia Hotel, I drove straight ahead in the street towards the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A short distance from the Iraqi Airways Office in that street, a huge US Tank appeared in front of me, and a big Armed Personnel Carrier (APC) crossed from the parallel road and turned into the street, which I and other cars were passing through, and the forces cut at once all traffic completely. *** I felt sad because the situation in my country which deteriorated that far and begun to go down the abyss among politicians quarreling for the spoils and personal gains rather than seeking their own country's interests. The people ignorant masses were riding the wave of emotions and sectarian fanaticism besides the influence of foreign and regional forces pushing the country towards the brink of Civil War for their own goals. There was little hope that clever Iraqis and wise men would manage to save the country from the abyss. The situation seemed that many were herded like sheep towards their slaughter house without being well aware of what was waiting for them. *** The pilot flew his plane up in a spiral or semi circular ascent to avoid possible missiles being shot at the plane from areas surrounding the airport from where some resistance and rebel groups were thought to target military and civilian planes. *** Outbreak of Sectarian Conflict Iraqi sources reported attacking 129 Sunni mosques by Shiites while other international sources indicated attacking, destroying, and damaging 300 mosques. It was reported that several mosques were burnt and robbed killing a large number of Iraqi citizens including many from the Sunni Islamic Party and other groups.