And then there were elections

I call it going from zero to one hundred in a matter of five minutes and a mile long dusty road. Leaving Log Base Seitz and arriving at the 10th Mountain Division headquarters down the road you may as well have been visiting a new country. The 10th Div is run by Col. Mark Milley, a tough-talking Bostonian who is as wicked smart as he is fierce.

He believes entirely in The Cause and is exceptionally articulate in sharing his view. Problem is, I think he wants people to believe just as strongly by the time you leave him, and for me that’s just not possible. As I’ve told the Col. “We’ll just have to agree to disagree, sir.” But I’m not sure he agrees.

Milley leads from the front, as they say, which means he is constantly doing “battlefield circulation” or going on patrols through the streets of Western Baghdad. He says he likes to check on his men and see for himself the workings on the city’s streets, which appears to earn him huge respect from his soldiers, and also from some Iraqis with whom he meets. My initial impression of the Col. is that he is quite skilled in dealing with Iraqi people, the result of many years and many missions in foreign countries, most recently in Afghanistan. Many of you have heard me speak in the past of inexperienced and frightened soldiers creating terrifying situations for both themselves and the Iraqis around them (much less the journalist on the sidelines witnessing the whole mess). The sheer terror of some of these kids can – and often does- inspire the very situation they’re afraid of. But Milley does none of that. He hears that Iraqis are upset at soldiers evading all traffic rules and running ramrod through intersections, so he asks his men try to follow traffic; he is calm and confident, shows respect and listens to the people around him, and as an avid reader of history and military strategy, has an amazing historical context. You may not always agree with him but you will invariably respect him.

Traveling through the streets of Baghdad, seeing familiar sights and watching citizens go about their lives as usual, is a welcome difference from Log Base Seitz. But it does bring its own… elements, which I won’t detail here.

People say that two things you should never witness being made are laws and sausage; I would add to that, elections.

The most interesting part of this embed experience is witnessing the interaction with Iraqi Police, National Guard and US military as they prepare for the January 30 election. The process is amazing but not exactly clean. I have been witnessing the logistical part, which includes one of the most important aspects of the entire event: security.

The military has been predicting an upsurge in violence around the elections, and today may be the first mark of this, but it will be the first. I say this because if you listen to Fox News you would think the entire country has been one bloody explosion for weeks on end. But up to now it’s been no more or less than usual. This isn’t a good thing, but I’m speaking relatively to put things in perspective. But today was different. Today there were two large VBIEDs (car bombs) with a total of nine casualties and one death; 4 ieds (improvised explosive devices) were discovered and control detonated;1 ied detonated, no casualties;1 grenade attack; 5 small arm fire attacks; 1 Iraqi civilian killed; and one weapons cache found, in the area of western Baghdad. Other areas experienced a similar 24 hours, including a marine helicopter crash that killed 36 people. Still, men and women are working overtime to organize for the elections, placing thousands of Iraqi Police and guardsmen at the polls. They see this event as a turning point in history, though a turn in which direction, we can’t tell.

I have agreed not to write about much of the strategizing that I’ve witnessed until after the election, but suffice it to say that the process has been remarkable – and remarkably frustrating, given the different factions attempting to come together for this election. My writing will stay pretty general compared to the last trip, much to the dismay of some friends. Sorry guys.

But I don’t have as much time to write as I thought I might have given the daily outings with various units in different parts of Baghdad. Still I did manage to pull together a story on the basic structure and process of these elections, more because I was so incredibly confused and couldn’t seem to find anyone who understood it all. The story, I might add, is no longer whether or not these elections will go forward; they will. The unknown is how they will proceed. I’ll keep you posted. Other Iraq stories are running in the Santa Fe New Mexican and Alternet.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- These days I ask every Iraqi citizen I see the same question: “Rah Tsowit?” “Are you going to vote?” The responses that surprised me most were from people who said they had no understanding of who was running or how the process works. At first I thought perhaps the individuals couldn’t read or didn’t have access to television, -- which would make sense considering it entails electricity of which there is only about 6.5 intermittent hours a day. So I went to another source… and then another. The truth is, I found very few people who understood the system completely so I made it my mission to figure out how exactly– or however exact one can get in these parts –this extraordinary election is going to work.

My first realization is that unless one has direct access to an Iraqi election official who is camped inside the International Zone, it’s difficult to get a full sense of what on earth is going to happen here. I compiled this information from a variety of sources and some of the information here may be well-known. If you’re familiar with the entire process, congratulations, you know a great deal more than roughly 27 million Iraqis.

The January 30 election in Iraq is being run by the Independence Election Commission in Iraq.

It was decided that Iraqis, aged 18 and over, will choose a 275-member Transitional National Assembly and 10 provincial councils. This law-making entity will choose its own president and two deputies and then will draft the first constitution, to be completed by August 2005 and ratified the following October. National elections are scheduled to be held in December 2005; the specific form that system will take will be decided upon and outlined in the new constitution. Voters in the northern Kurdish region will also select a new regional parliament.

There are currently 107 (111 by some reports) different parties, or lists, running in the election, designated on the ballot by entity name, symbol and number. This includes nine coalition parties, 71 straight ticket parties (Sunni, Shiite, etc.) and 27 brave individuals. This number could change as people drop out, join with other coalitions or are killed. Each list has anywhere from 12 to 275 individuals whose names are indicated -- or not – totaling more than 6,000 candidates. Many members have kept their names off of any election material for fear of retaliation/assassination. When and if voters will discover the identities of those in various parties is still a mystery. Seats in the National Assembly will be allocated depending on percentage, i.e. if a party gets 25% of the vote, its members will fill 25% percent of the seats, starting at the top of the list. Twenty-five percent of candidates are required to be female.

Some parties are well known such as the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) led by Abd-al-Aziz-Muhsin Mahdi al-Hakim; and some, well, I can’t find anyone who knows what the Homeland Gathering or the Loyalty for Iraq Coalition might be.

Two of the parties being more closely watched simply because of name recognition and status of the individuals would be the National Accord (330) whose leader is Dr. Ayad Allawi, Iraq’s current Prime Minister, and the Iraqi Unified Coalition. The coalition, or # 169, which is strongly Shiite and supported by Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, is expected to be very successful.

Fourteen and a half million people are currently registered to vote in Iraq, the majority of these names taken from the food ration distribution list used by Saddam Hussein, which is considered to be highly accurate. The location an Iraqi went for food ration cards will generally dictate where he or she will go to vote, though specific polling locations have been kept secret even a week before the election for security reasons. Each voter will get black ink marked on his hand to ensure he votes only once. This is yet another concern to many Iraqis who would like to vote but fear being identified as one who has voted.

The two most prominent Sunni organizations still opposing the election are the Iraq Islamic Party and Association of Muslim Scholars, which have adhered to their decision to respectively withdraw and boycott the elections, claiming it will be illegitimate and a tactic to extend the occupation in Iraq. Some Sunnis asked for a deadline of US withdrawal as a condition of participating in the election, but no withdrawal date has been given. Their fatwa, or edict, has been resonant with many local Sunnis, though as the election nears and a postponement seems unlikely, Sunnis are realizing they may not be represented in the new government if they do not participate. For example, Adnan Pachachi, head of the Independent Democratic Grouping, with both Sunni and Shiite members, is somewhat reluctantly abandoning his call for a postponement and is instead now calling on all Iraqis to vote.

Safety is still a major concern of Iraqis wanting to vote, though not as much as most media would have you believe. Other concerns, such as a lack of trust and understanding of the process are more serious.

According to polls taken by an independent Iraqi polling group in recent months, an average of ten percent cited security concerns as their reason not to vote, while up to 29% cited a lack of trust in the process and another 49% had other concerns. Their findings, though far from scientific, shed light on some general trends regarding the elections.

The Iraqi pollsters went door to door in every sector of the country, conducting 30-35 minute interviews with between 4,200 and 5,000 people for the survey below. The most recent survey was conducted in January of this year.

Do you plan to vote in the upcoming elections?

NO - 4% in Aug. compared to18% in January
DON’T KNOW - 3% in Aug. compared to 10% in January
YES - 93% in August compared to 72% in January.
89% of Sunni Muslims said they would vote last Aug. compared to 47% respondents in January.
96% of Shias said they would vote in August compared to 86% in January

Intent to Vote:
If you’re not planning to vote, why? The first number is from respondents in September of 2004; the second number is from January 2005.

Because of security situation: 11- 7% said (52% of Sunni and 45% Shia cite security reasons)
Don’t trust the process: 29-22%
Don’t know the candidates: 11-10%
Because of the presence of the multinational forces 16-4%
Other reasons: 7% to 49%

When Iraqis go to vote, what do you think they will be voting for?

Prime minister: 6%
President: 18%
Don’t know/no answer: 31%
Parliament members: 33%
Candidates from political parties, which will provide Transitional National Authority members: 11%
Political Parties: 1%

Proportion that understands the election concept: 45% in January compared to 18% last November and 36% in December with no significant different between sects in terms of understanding.

Election Security:
Which would make you feel safe when you go to vote?

Iraqi Police near the polling stations: 14%
IP and Iraqi National Guard only: 35%
IP, ING and Multi National Forces: 12%
No security at all; it invites attacks: 11%

I can’t imagine how the average Iraqi is going to figure all this out; then again, US citizens, whose average voter turnout is 44 percent, can’t even educate themselves about two or three candidates, just imagine if we had 107 choices.

In the meantime, life seems to be put on hold, everyone waiting ‘ba’ad al-intikhabat’ meaning, ‘after the elections’, as one Arab news outlet noted. Events, meetings, business contracts and other decisions of import are being pushed aside, all in anticipation of this hopeful and somewhat ambivalent day, January 30.

Next the Iraqi people will begin the wait for the results of their first democratic election. This at least is something we know a thing or two about, though Iraqis have proven to be far more patient than we could ever imagine being. How long with those results take? Couldn’t tell you. Some are estimating around two to three weeks, but there’s no way to know for sure. Perhaps just the act of voting, that nebulous and unknown concept brought into known proportions, will be enough for now. Either way, it is a beginning. Whether it is a beginning of peaceful democracy or a starting shot for civil war is another unknown. We can only hope, for the sake of Iraqis, that it is the former.

The un embed... or so I thought

Call it the rules—did you know soldiers are not allowed to smoke and walk at the same time? —or perhaps the fact that I had to watch an otherwise reasonable young man consume first a family-sized jar of mayonnaise, puke, and then join in on an economy sized mustard chugging contest. Or maybe just the closer than close monitoring of every word I wrote on my blog (wondering why there are no posts?), in articles and soon I wondered if in emails as well. Then I got a sniff of freedom. I escaped for two days into the arms of the Al Hamra hotel in downtown Baghdad and visited with an old colleague. I got in a few real conversations with real live Iraqis, including Nadeem and Yazin, from the babe squad!! slept the first night in weeks without wondering if mortars would come through my roof, and realized I couldn’t ever fully go back. In other words, I’m leaving my embed. Can’t do it. I’m out – at least for a while. I mean, I’m critical enough without having to edit my own words and I’ll say it again: anyone who says the embed experience doesn’t affect one’s work is flat. out. lying. Doesn’t mean the work isn’t good, important or done with integrity; just means it’s affected.

Plus, I have been neglectful, I admit it, and for reasons I can’t really go into right now. But I’m going to be more communicative from here on out because I suppose you’d like to hear a thing or two about Iraq. Yeah, and so would I. In fact, I’m so curious about what’s happening in this country, leaving my embed during the elections is my only hope of actually getting some information. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned immense amounts about the embed process, about the good folks of the 515 in New Mexico, and some not so good folks; I’ve seen extraordinary military waste and lavish living and I’ve hit my head against the absurdity of rules. I’ve seen the amazing hard work of hundreds of National Guardsmen and reservists, many of whom are here against their will and at great personal sacrifice (backdoor draft? You betchya). I’m awestruck just witnessing first hand the machinations of the military machine; observing good people stuck in ridiculous situations; unit cohesion and the lack thereof; devotion to God because if it wasn’t God that kept that piece of shrapnel an inch away from my head, I don’t know what was. And then the dramas: Watching couples late at night emerge from bunkers, conexes and from behind latrines; hearing any number of personal stories, some of which will be chronicled eventually, I promise. Men strutting their stuff in the gym while women circle like vultures over roadkill; a medic center that works with pinpoint accuracy and smart folks who can call a spade a spade. I’ve enjoyed a kind of obvious protection, eating good food, having hot showers and sleeping in a comfortable bed with an endless supply of DVDs. I have even enjoyed the completely nonsensical, idiotic remarks made by kids with no thinking capacity of their own, mostly because it’s my morbid fascination to see that these thought processes actually exist (more on this to come). I’ve especially enjoyed conversations with people who are really thinking deeply about and questioning what they’re doing here and wondering if their legacy will prove beneficial to the people of Iraq. And there are a lot of those here. Many of these people are older, more thoughtful and often have served in other wars. My favorite response came from a newcomer to Iraq, a sixty something Vietnam vet and current National Guardsman from Kansas. Given the repeated comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam, I asked him if he saw similarities between the two wars and if so what they might be. He pointed his plastic fork in my face and said, “Are there similarities? Yeah, and Edwin Star said it best: ‘War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. I’ll say it again. War! What is it good for? Ab-so-lut-ely nothing.’”

Then he put his fork down and excused himself as he left the chow hall.

On that note, here are some casual shots of my life here at Log Base Seitz, where a large signs hangs over the maintenance company doors reading, ‘Welcome to Mortaritaville.’



Two days after I posted this and was nervously arranging my departure to downtown Baghdad - the Red Zone - I got a note that I was accepted with the 10th Mountain division down the road at Camp Victory. I thought about completely erasing the post I had previously written, then decided that it is a good indicator of my extreme internal struggle and ambivalence with the embed process. I began with an embed because I wanted to see and understand the military maneuvering from the inside, but mostly because it was the only relatively safe way for a journalist to work in Iraq. I had no idea at the time that I would have NO interaction with Iraqis, that the situation here had turned so drastically away from the Iraq I discovered last year that I would be as isolated as the military itself, held prisoner inside the walls of my own making. This has been profoundly depressing for me and has impacted my work (or lack thereof) in numerous ways. And yet I want to find a way to make it work. Because of their involvement with some of the electoral process (council meetings, patrols, etc) I think the 10th MNT will offer me a kind of view I’ve been waiting to see with no success since I arrived here in December. As the elections are just over a week away I will try for far more frequent postings.

There are a few other aspects that are influencing my decision to try another embed, despite my ambivalence. During my brief time downtown, I discovered with no surprise that my old translator is working full time with someone else. He is someone I trust implicitly and trusting your Iraqi contact is essential these days. I know he would help where he could, but it would limit my desire and access to do anything outside the hotel walls. I had asked my translator to try to find another friend, Hussein, the air force pilot who took me into his home and family last year, and for whose children I had packed a bag of toys. Hussein’s email had been closed and I had no phone number that worked. We had no luck tracking him down until I read days later that he and a French journalist had just been kidnapped. I was devastated. And, though it’s not new, it made me realize just how much risk these people take to help us as journalists. yes, it is because we have become friends, but mostly because their country is destroyed and this is one of the ONLY remaining jobs around that pays anything. Other jobs include police work, whose reputation is as a kind of mafia training for shake downs of innocent and some not so innocent people. The police are trusted less than the politicians these days – and the danger to them is far greater. But again, it is a job, one of the few. So in asking friends to help me gather stories it puts their lives at risk that much more. And even when covering myself with a hat, a scarf and a full abaya, I am a western female with light skin who does not speak Arabic. I have taken the personal risk to come here and do this work, and translators are responsible for taking their risks, I know. But if anything happened to my dear friend because of his association with me, I’m not sure I could live with myself. So it is with a heavy heart but also with eagerness that I proceed to my next station. The few people I’ve already met from this unit have been wonderful.

And I guess a note about the photos because I’ve gotten a comment. I have chosen some photos for now to show the sheer absurdity of some of my days here but also because I would rather my worried friends and family see me struggle with the strangeness, say, of my first facial (yes, it was my first, and for those who know me I’m sure you got a chuckle) than the strangeness of some other things I’ve witnessed here. All in due time…

Log Base Seitz

And now a few snap shots from life at Log Base Seitz.

At Camp Victory there's a huge PX, a Wal-Mart like store where you can buy anything from TVs to shoes to toothpaste to food and magazines. And these lame shirts. ;)


Though the shot is blurry (and I thought I had trouble focusing), it does give a good sense of the dining facility where we all spend the majority of our time, and the group of New Mexicans with whom I spend much of my time. The guy in the green hat is the Commander of Log Base.


A view of beautiful Log Base Seitz with the town of Abu Ghraib in the distance (being patrolled by Blackhawks). The tiny logistical base at one point supplied 1/3 of Baghdad with anything from food and water to ammunition and fuel. The maintenance shop filled more than 10,000 orders in one year, including the uparmoring of more than 3,000 vehicles (to the tune of $25k a pop).


Just south of Abu Ghraib at sunset. Hopefully an indicator of things to come, the silver lining that is.


People from Abu Ghraib burn their garbage at night. We burn our garbage during the day, which makes the air over the base toxic, oh, pretty much round the clock.


And there are mortar attacks! This dud in the right hand corner flwe directly into the staff HQ cutting the communication wires seen to the left. Luckily it did not explode.


In one day we had four separate mortar attacks. This unexploded ordnance is waiting to be gathered. And how does one pick up UXO? "Very carefully," I was told by a wise man. "Like a little newborn baby."


Given the frequency of mortar attacks at Log Base Seitz, you learn quickly that bunkers like this one, which are sprinkled throughout the base, are your friend.


I started out taking daily walks when I arrived at base but given the air quality (see above) and frequency of mortar attacks (see above), I familiarized myself with the MWR, or recreation center. Given the amazing amount of food on this base, it's a place I should undoubtedly be spending more time. But why would I do that when there's...


Twister!


... or ladies' night at the med center. yes I was humiliated, but every journalist knows that sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of sources, and joining in was a condition for me to take photos.




Preparing for one of my rare and cherished trips off base, this time with the 245th.


At camp Taji, about 20 minutes to the north, there is what they call the bone yard, where Russian tanks from Saddam's army have been left to die.


There a very few Iraqis allowed on Log Base Seitz. The handful who have been hired for such jobs as cleaning, sweeping or filling sand bags are closely monitored.