Baghdad Marathon

(Photo: Our "kiss-off" instead of a "handoff" raised many "aaauuuw's" from the supporters of the Baghdad Marathon)


On Saturday November 11th, a bunch of us participated in the Baghdad Marathon. While three of our much, much braver colleagues ran the entire 26.2 mi through the International Zone (accomplished through two laps around a 13mi course), the rest of us opted to sign up for the 5-person teams. As part of a relay team each member had to complete one 5.2 lap for a total of 5 laps.

(Photo -Coming in for the finish)

Certainly one of the most interesting courses one could ever hope to run. The highlights of the day started with the only pre-race safety briefing I ever heard to include "incoming fire" and "kidnapping risk" - now I don't know, perhaps runners in Colombia get the same briefing, but it was a first for us. Comments to the instructions to "duck" included "or run faster".


The first runner departed at 0500 from the back of Saddam's palace, next to the pool. As each runner completes the course he/she hands off at the same location. Mile one was run flanking the T-walls where a row of big-rig supply trucks were lined up to be scanned, searched and scrutinized before gaining access to the highly guarded Embassy compound. Not quite used to dodging rigs on runs either, but hey - it's not the half of it. At the end of the long stretch of T-wall, marathoners went underneath, relayers went to the right of the 14th of July bridge, in plane site of the Tigris river, and mind you, the Red Zone (hence the "indirect fire" briefing I imagine). Continuing on straight to the traffic circle with the statue of the four soldiers (the same statue that was infamously hit by a certain South African colleague in a 300K armored vehicle, winning him a one-way ticket home). From there the route veered slightly left toward the convention center, right at the "tomb of the unknown soldier" (the marathoners got to run under Saddam's swords but not the relayers) past the Combat Support Hospital (CASH), and back around the embassy.


All along the route were KBR employees for whom the distinction between "marathoner" and "relayer" apparently posed just too much information, hence rendering most of the relayers to run far longer than the planned 5.2 mi. In addition to KBR folks were the ever-present Peruvian guards, automatic rifle in hand, ready with the standard greeting "buenos dias miiiieeeeeeees...."

Apart from our starter not coordinating with the second fellow (resulting in the second guy waiting around for about 20 mins before simply jumping into the next group of people that ran past at the change over), our team did fine - and most importantly, we all had a great time. A computer crash at the embassy caused the loss of most of the race times, so I regress that I cannot report back on our marvelous performance.

America (and me) votes 2006!

Fine, so it’s a little weird to get up at 5am to watch anything on TV, except if it’s to watch the Springboks maul the All Blacks – or as the case may be this morning, Nancy Pelosi sharpening her claws for the next two years as Speaker of the House.

It’s true friends, it’s true. We woke before dawn, made some strong coffee, flipped some pancakes and glued ourselves to CNN as the polls slowly started closing on the west coast. Together with some other active politicos we watched Allen and Webb battle it out in Virginia, and cringed together as Lieberman permanently tattooed “#1 Republican” on his forehead.

I thought I would share this photograph with y’all. And let me tell you, it was a big deal. When the absentee ballots came in October Chris nonchalantly said “oh, we have to remember to vote tonight”, I nearly fell over! I was like “no, noooo, no, you don’t understand, I have to prepare, I have to be ready”. So I mentally prepared for a few days, and finally cast my first vote ever at my kitchen counter in Baghdad, listening to the Dixie Chicks (note: I was 5 months too young to vote for Nelson Mandela, and have lived as an *alien* ever since).

For those of you who know me and have attended my political fundraising parties, you will understand what a big deal this is for me…so we continue to watch…at the office, on CNN.com and a myriad of political blogs to follow the close races in MT, VA and TN….it’s close…oh so close….

Living through a death sentence

For once the ice-cold interior of the Hamurabi office building is a welcome refuge from the outside. I dashed back to my house; adrenalin runs high; heart beats quickly as I navigate through the fortified hard houses that long-term staff occupies on the compound. Instead of the direct route I normally take home I find myself snaking as much as possible, at times even entering other quads, adding precious concrete barriers between myself and the exterior walls.

The sounds are unmistakable, "rrrrrrratatatatatatatatatata" sounds the AK47, "rat-duht-duht-duht-duht" come the much deeper, evenly-spaced 50-caliber's response. In my ten months in Baghdad, one of the many things I have come to understand is that the latter is what they call "outgoing", generally a good thing. But when it happens in response to massive celebratory fire, it doesn't seem as effective as its normal silencing of misleading AK fire we experience at night from time to time.

And so, as with so many other random dates, today is in itself again a historic moment for Iraq. Saddam Hussein was convicted mere minutes ago for his role in the 1982 killing of 148 Shi'a villagers in the town of Dujail. The sentence passed down from the judge is that he will be hanged for his crimes, something he protested against instead demanding death by firing squad as a "military man", and not hanging like a "criminal".

The Regional Security Office at the embassy issued a precautionary mandate that all employees should be wearing their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when moving around outside on the compound outside, hence my necessary dash home. Everyone in the office is quite; the air conditioner is pleasantly cooling, not much discussion going on…

Earlier, a couple of Iraqi colleagues came into the dining hall with huge smiles on their faces, one of them, an attractive young man that works in motorpool indicated the international sign for "he's dead" by slicing his finger across the front of his neck exclaiming "finally, it's over". I asked him if he thought something was going to happen. He said "you mean something bad?"

smiling again, he added

"…no, of course not, the shooting outside is for the happiness".

So on that "happy" note, I'll keep my flack jacket and helmet on for good measure. "



A Few Hours Later.......


Just an update on the situation in Baghdad...in the scheme of things it was a relatively quiet day - even the celebratory fire was actually less than that which happens after a good football game in Baghdad. I do hear a lot of air traffic overhead tonight in what I can only imagine is continued surveillance of the volatile city. Please keep our Iraqi friends and neighbors in your thoughts and prayers.

Baghdad holdings its breath

With the anticipated conviction of Saddam Hussein expected later today, Baghdad is taking no chances. A curfew has been in place since 2100 last night, and runs through tomorrow - rendering all streets practically impassable to residents, including to our local staff.

The concern is that if a conviction (and subsequent penalty, most likely to be that of death by hanging) is passed, Saddam's own Sunni minority will rise up in anger. Alternatively, if a conviction is not passed, the Shi'a majority might view this as a failure in the fragile justice system.

The imminent conviction is riddled with potential problems and claimed irregularities. Some argue the timing was rigged to provide a boost for republicans before the mid-term elections, others fear that a conviction in this case, will hamper the process of justice in the ongoing Al Anfal campaign. Iraqi law states that if a death sentence is passed, it must be carried out within 30 days. Thus, if Saddam is convicted and sentenced in the Dujail case in which he allegedly ordered the killing of 148 Shi'a villagers following an attempt on his life in 1982, he will most likely not complete the Al Anfal trial that accuses him of systematically killing as many as 182,000 individuals between 1986 and 1989 in his anti-Kurdish campaign.

One thing I wonder about is what Kurdistan will do if they do not see their own slice of justice.

In the meantime, Bradley and Abraham's tanks have been rolled out at checkpoints and we'll be hunkered down, working hard. Please keep the Iraqis in your thoughts.