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Failed quest for 'Daughters of Iraq'

For an embed set up to investigate a new breed of Iraqi female guard it was a complete disaster. But fortunately, thanks to an amusing helicopter crew and some friendly soldiers on the ground, the trip was not an utter waste of time.
In fact, things got off to a promising start. 
I mean, it’s not every day you get to ride next to a gunner in a Blackhawk and watch as he test-fires the weapon, while passing over a patch of dusty waste land en route to an area known as the Triangle of Death.
Touching down at a military base on the outskirts of Yusifiyah, a town south of Baghdad, I had been expecting to spend the next two days with some “Daughters of Iraq”, a novel addition to the country’s bulging security forces.
The group is a female version of the better-established “Sons of Iraq” who were formed and funded by the US military after largely Sunni Arab tribes grew disenchanted with al-Qaeda.
It became apparent very quickly, however, that something had gone horribly wrong in the planning of my adventure.
The local batch of Daughters of Iraq only emerge on a Sunday and a Monday, while I, for some inexplicable reason, had been booked to embed on a Tuesday with the US soldiers who run the programme.

The Commanding Officer, Captain Michael Starz, who had nothing to do with organising the visit but was merely hosting it, was as puzzled as me as to why I had been sent on such an odd day to see real live Daughters of Iraq.
Unfortunately our mutual realisation of the error only dawned after the helicopter had upped and vanished, leaving me stranded in this rural spot.
To make matters worse, Tuesday (when all this took place) turned out to be the very day when thousands of Iraqi soldiers poured deeper than ever before into the Baghdad Shia slum of Sadr City.
I had been waiting for the past week for this to happen so it was typical that the action should kick off the moment I decide to take a chance and leave.
Alas none of my mobile phones worked in Yusifiyah and my satellite phone decided to go on strike so I was blissfully unaware of this hugely symbolic event until I finally logged onto the Internet a lot later in the day.
With no chance of seeing any Daughters of Iraq at work, I asked to be put on the next flight back to Baghdad.

A helicopter was due in at 3pm, which meant I had time to go out on a patrol with Captain Starz.

Delivering aid to Sadr City

Smiling excitedly, the skinny orphan clutches a new rucksack given to him by a group of Iraqi soldiers as part of a limited mission to distribute aid to the many needy people in Sadr City.
Rasoul Mohamed Sharif, 12, and the other 30 boys at a ramshackle orphanage are among the lucky few to gain access to this assistance, which is only being distributed in the southern sector of the Baghdad Shia slum.
Ongoing clashes between US and Iraqi forces and gangs of Shia gunmen who have controlled Sadr City for the past five years, means that soldiers have been unable to deliver supplies of food, water and medical assistance any deeper.
As a result boxes of bandages and other basic medical equipment lie untouched outside a Baghdad military base, while hospitals and medical centres in the northern two-thirds of the impoverished district are fast running out of supplies.
First Lieutenant Mostafa Zeid, a doctor, said that it was very frustrating to know that people were in need of help and to have the necessary assistance, but be unable to deliver because it is deemed too dangerous.

“We know that they [the hospitals] are suffering from a lack of drugs, medicines and doctors and they need help,” he said, noting that the supplies had been sitting around for more than three weeks.
“I am very sad and frustrated.”
The Ministry of Health had offered to help deliver the equipment to the hospitals but the soldiers say that they prefer to hand it over themselves. The Health Ministry has a record of being closely connected with the al-Mehdi Army militia that controls Sadr City and there is a suspicion that the medical aid will end up with wounded militiamen rather than civilians.
First Lieutenant Zeid is hopeful that the army will be able to reach the cut-off hospitals and medical centres soon, following a ceasefire agreement signed on Monday between the Government’s Shia political bloc and supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shia cleric who commands the Mehdi Army.
Clashes continue on the streets, however, and no move has yet been made to cross beyond a wall constructed by US forces to seal off the southern sector.
The military doctor predicted that this would change. “I believe in one week we can take this [the medical supplies],” he said, speaking to me on Tuesday.

Random kindness

Something really random just happened so I thought I would share.
I was sitting in my office, which is actually a small room inside a suite inside a hotel in Baghdad, feeling rather blue – it happens every now and then.
Truth be told, I was generally feeling sorry for myself. Pathetic, considering how bad other people have it out here, but there you go.
Anyhow, the cleaner, who visits my room every day and always greets me with a big smile no matter what is going on in his life, came in to make some comment about the laundry.
I tried to hide the fact that I was upset, but failed.
As soon as he noticed, the young man sprang into action, wiping away my tears, telling me to be happy and not to worry about anything. He even planted a big kiss on my head as if I were a member of the family or something.
Before I knew it the cleaner was off pottering around the bathroom with a mop, but thanks to his kind gesture I feel much better.

Pigeons welcomed in Baghdad

A flock of pigeons has taken roost in a busy square in central Baghdad, where three fountains also recently started to spout water.
The rare display prompts some passers-by jokingly to liken this tiny fraction of their otherwise broken city to London or Paris.

“It makes me feel like we are in Europe,” said my driver as we pulled up to Tahrir Square this morning to check-out the tame birds and the waterworks.
Twittering to each other, the pigeons flutter around the foot of a large stone plaque at one end of the square, which is actually shaped more like a rectangle and also boasts a revamped patch of parkland surrounded by a main road.
The Baghdad Council installed the birds here a few months ago as part of a push to revive the bomb-scarred capital, said a young boy who looks after them.
“There are about 300 pigeons altogether, though I lost a few of them in the first day because they just flew off,” he said, declining to give his name.
Housed in a green cage, the size of a garden shed, the grey, white and speckled birds are released every morning at 7am and shooed home at 5pm.
The walls of the cage are lined with shelves holding small, straw baskets where the pigeons sleep and also reproduce.
“This chick was born three weeks ago,” said the bird-keeper, reaching into one of the baskets and plucking out a small ball of dark grey feathers.

People walking across the square pause to check out the pigeons and the fountains. Some even snap a few pictures on their camera phone.