Iraq - Day 2

So, day 2...

I didn't get to sleep till around 1:30am and woke up at 8am. I decided to sleep in and skip breakfast. After getting ready, I headed out at 8:30 where I met with the rest of our group. We headed to our first meeting which was with Major General Perkins to talk about the military's strategic communications plan and how they reach out to various press outlets to get the right message out. Was pretty interesting. By the way, I'll be purposely a little light on the content of the conversations so don't be surprised if I skip detail there.

After that, we met with Major Steen and Lieutenant commander Eikenberry who walked us throug the national fiber network installation project which will create 4 fiber rings all through the country. They desparately need good connectivity through the country as this is their biggest issue right now. They also discussed the challenges they have with the Iraqi government since they still do not have IT laws passed as of yet and this is threatening the work they do.

After that, we met with senior staff from the Embassy: Ambassador Ford and Michael Dodman who is the counselor for Economic Affairs.

We then left to another building to do a conference call with the Deputy Minister of Iraq Barham Saleh who couldn't make it because he was in Kurdistan. We had a great conversation with him about technology and how it could shape Iraq's future - he really gets it. We were really impressed with him. We plan to meet with him again before we leave and get into some specifics about how we can help.

After that meeting, we had lunch in the same place everyone else does on the compound. The food was surprisingly good with a lot of cajun stuff for all the Louisiana folks! I was so excited to see grilled cheese sandwiches and 4 different types of chicken wings! The quality wasn't the best but they had a really awesome variety of stuff. They had a dessert station, ice cream station, a sandwich station, and a few others...We ate with a bunch of folks from the IT side, people that help manage the elections, and others I can't remember.

Pic of the lunch menu!

From Iraq day 2

Once we were done, we boarded a bus and headed out to take pics at the famous crossed sword. Let me tell you, driving with a motorcade is really cool. They send out a bunch of advance cars (we have on idea how many) that scope out the path we take and clear the area we're going to.

Pic of the 'freedom restaurant' just outside the compound

From Iraq day 2

Some monument at a roundabout on our way there

<

From Iraq day 2

So by the time we get there, they're already on the ground and have the area clear. What's even cooler is whenever we are in the car, the lead and follow suburbans always stick to us and drive in a way that never lets anyone get between us...they completely dominate the roads we take and stop traffic as we go...Pretty interesting experience! So when we got there, we found out that we got special approval from someone that was well connected with the Iraqi army to let us take pics there and walk around.

The famous crossed swords

From Iraq day 2

Iraqi army patrolling this area:

From Iraq day 2

Just me and the swords:

From Iraq day 2

US Army tanks roll in to either take a break or take pics...I couldn't figure out why they were there :)

From Iraq day 2

The 3 googlers!

From Iraq day 2

Pic of a bunch of MPVs - all those big blocks on the sides is extra armor

From Iraq day 2

I asked this soldier to pose for me:

From Iraq day 2

and again:

From Iraq day 2

and then with me:

From Iraq day 2

helmets of iranians from the first persian gulf war

From Iraq day 2

Me and an Iraqi soldier:

From Iraq day 2

Like any sign in the middle east, this is just a suggestion but never to be taken seriously :)

From Iraq day 2

I think I have a few inches more pecs than he does :)

From Iraq day 2

We even exported graffitti from the US :)

From Iraq day 2

This is the place where Saddam has that great shot of him firing his rifle:

From Iraq day 2

This is a pic of the side of the residential palace after being bombed:

From Iraq day 2

Here's a front view:

From Iraq day 2

These white blimps are all over the city and act as early warnings of incoming missiles (you have 10 secs to duck!)

From Iraq day 2

Govt building bombed in the war:

From Iraq day 2

The famous Al-Rashid hotel that was bombed...this side is OK...the other side isn't :)

From Iraq day 2

While I was there, I made friends with a bunch of the Iraqi soldiers and hung out with them. I was asking what they thought of the country now and of the US. The unanimous opinion was that it is much better off and the old baathists are of course unhappy but the vast majority (one guy said 60%) was much happier with the new outcome.

The Iraqi soldiers were super nice and they didn't mind if I jumped around their humvees and take tons of pics.

Playing soccer:

From Iraq day 2

Me and the Iraqi boys:

From Iraq day 2

Not sure what I was trying to do...the Iraqi soldiers were really easy going:

From Iraq day 2

That antenna on the left is for jamming cell signals:

From Iraq day 2

Saddam look-alike?

From Iraq day 2

After that, we headed out to the tomb of the unknown soldier which was restricted but we had approval to get to go all the way in. That was really cool !

In front of the monument:

From Iraq day 2

From Iraq day 2

From Iraq day 2

We then headed out after the pics to a meeting with the advisory council of Prime Minister al-Maliki. They spoke to us mostly about educational reform and their plans for that.

Then, we left for a meeting with Dr Sami al-Araji who is the Investment Commission of Iraq to discuss how they plan to attract foreign investment in to the company. He was very interested in Google doing business there but we were more interested in how he was attracting companies in general.

After this meeting, we headed back to the US embassy compound for a meeting with Ambassador Wall who gave us a really sobering assessment of the current economical situation in Iraq. He talked to us about how the affect of the oil prices is really challenging the Iraqi government since it's come down so much.

We then had the head of US Hostage Affairs gives us an overview of what's going on with kidnappings in Iraq. He was telling us that since Aug 2007, there was only one kidnapping which they paid the ransom. Nothing since. He said that foreigners usually go for $90K and Iraqi's around $20K but if you were a more well-off Iraqi or a professional (doctor, etc), you'd go for more. In the back of my mind, I was wondering how much I'd go for...Hmm, $20K, 90$K, higher?? :) He also talked about how kidnappers quickly grab your phone and dial any numberin your contact list that looks like a spouse/brother/sister/father. They then intimidate them into reacting emotionally which helps accelerate the kidnappers getting paid. Pretty interesting stuff!

We had also a representative from the US anti-corruption office discuss what they were doing in Iraq to combat this, among a few other areas of concern I can barely remember now but I'll check my notes later.

We then then ended up back to have a working dinner with the Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Raad Fahmi. He talked to us at length about his initiatives for e-government and all the challenges he had with slow moving processes, different systems across ministries, complicated systems requiring staff retraining, and a system hugely dependent on paper trails. It looks like he has a long ways to go.

After dinner, we stopped by the embassy store and bought some really cool combat tshirts. It was still early so I suggested to our secret service agent that he take us for shisha since a few of us were interested. It turns out that it was just outside the compound. He didn't think he could do it so I kept trying to convince him and so he made a few calls but he got a flat no. We still tried to get out (you can ask me how offline) and we got denied at the gate...ugh.

Well that was an experience - so we ended up just hanging out at some patio tables just outside the gym for an hour and then headed to bed.

Got home, cleaned my bulletproof vest and ironed my shirt, then called it a night.

Iraq - Day 1

Many have asked me to write about my experience in Iraq so here goes...

So I'm on a US State dept-sponsored trip to Iraq as part of a delegation of high tech companies. I'm here with two others representing Google in the company of a great group of others from companies from both the west and east coast.

Let's get to to the good stuff.

So I arrived Fri night in Amman and headed to the Intercontinental hotel. A good friend of mine picked me up around 9 and we went for dinner and shisha. We drove around the city looking for any interesting nightlife to no avail. There was barely anyone out. By around 12:30am, I was back in my room and stayed up for a couple of hrs doing some work.

By 8am I was downstairs having breakfast and meeting the rest of the delegation. Jared Cohen from the US State dept briefed us on the schedule and logistics. At this point, it still wasn't registering that I was headed in to a war zone. For some reason, I was really relaxed about it.

By 9:30, we were all packed in to a big bus and we were headed for Malka airport (a municipal airport). We were going to board a military plane to head in the Baghdad. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11am but I found out the hard way that military flights never leave on time. We were told that we were taking a chartered jet in to Iraq and not a military plane. I was really bummed about that because I wanted the full experience.

Lo and behold, 3 hrs later, we're about to board. We get into the bus that takes us to the plane. To our surprise, we were boarding a C130 Hercules military plane!! Here's what that looked like:

First of all, this was an amazing experience to actually be in this plane! It was so great looking at these young army kids doing their job. I had a lot of respect for what they were doing. So I get in to the plane, pick up a kevlar helment and a 20 lb PPE (bullet proof vest). Inside, there are 4 rows of benches. Two of them run across both sides of the plane and then two are opposite eachother in the center. I made a mistake and sat in one of the center ones. It turns out that these benches in the center don't have backrests so basically the person sitting behind you is your backrest. I didn't figure this out until he nudged me cuz I kept on moving :)

This is a pic of one of the army guys sitting in a swing-like seat, watching from the window:

View from my seat, looking to the front of the plane. Notice the two army guys in the front: One is playing on a PSP and the other is listening to his MP3 player :)

This is me - I can't explain the look on my face :)

So this as you might imagine, the most uncomfortable plane ride I've ever experienced. There is absolutely no leg room - you are jammed opposite another row of people so you're basically fighting for the same leg room. I was trying to jam my legs between the guy in front of me, and he was doing the same. Let's not forget that I'm basically sitting on some mesh which has no padding - my rear end was numb by the time we landed!

I thought this would be a somewhat normal flight. I made the mistake of taking my carry-on with me. Let me tell you, there is no overhead bins in military planes :) So they told me I had to put it on my lap! Luckily, by the time I sat down, some nice military guy took my bag and threw it at the end of the plane. You might wonder what did they do with all of our checked-in luggage? Well, they just put it on one big skid and throw it in the back of the plane. So we're basically sitting next to the cargo...and yes, no business class, no meal service, and no frequent flyer miles :)

They then fired up the engines and because these things are not well insulated, it's annoyingly loud. So I wanted to grab my noise cancelling headphones. I ended up writing a note on my cell and passed it to the person to the left of me until it got to the last person...they then passed it back the opposite way...awesome :) So I slapped those on and it dampened the noise but it was still pretty loud.

We take off - and it was really uneventful. The trip was pretty uncomfy and I probably half slept through most of it since we were so exhausted. Oh and I should have mentioned that we were in suits all day which was a huge mistake - we didn't have to be in suits at all. People in the airport boarding with us were looking at us so funny since we were the only group in suits :)

Anyway, you knew we were there when the plane would make really quick drops, veer to the left, go up again, veer to the right, and repeat. They call it a corkscrew landing. Minutes later, we were on the ground. Bear in mind, we have no windows so we can't even see outside. The landing was so smooth that I wasn't even sure we landed!

We land and just as soon as the rear hatch opens, I see a military helicopter flying in the distance. That's when I knew I was in Iraq! We all get out, and file outside in two lines like we are in the army. Someone intercepts us and walks us off the tarmac to a holding area where they call us out (the tech delegation). We then go off to pick up our luggage. After that, we had two helicopters (bluebirds) waiting for us to fly us from Baghdad airport to the Green zone (which I've now learned is called the International zone).

Here are some pics of that part:

Walking to board our chopper after our C130 flight

View from inside the chopper as we are in the air

Picking up our bags after landing at Baghdad International Airport

View from the back of the chopper

This guy was sitting right behind me. The window was popped out so he could take anyone out if we run in to problems :)

By far, the most amazing thing was the helicopter ride. I have never been in one before and it was an amazing experience. These pilots make it seem like it's nothing but it's actually harder than flying a plane. It was so smooth - it just felt like we were cruising! So, we were in the air and I took in the beautiful sights of Baghdad for the first time!

View of the helicopter with the rest of our group

This guy is ready to shoot down anything in sight :)

View of the helicopter behind us (the rest of our group)

After a smooth landing at LZ Washington (landing zone washington), we get our luggage, walk around the perimeter of the tarmac of a string of at least a half dozen helicopters, and we meet our motorcade which was 2 armored suburbans (in front and behind us) and two buses. We then were quickly briefed by a State department Special Agent (ex-army) that was assigned to us for the trip who mentioned that there are double digit number of people assigned to protect us during out stay (he wouldnt say how many exactly). When we landed, we could definitely see tons of security guys waiting around. So we got in and headed to the US embassy compound which is a huge, fortress!

Our lead car - armored suburban

At this point, we get checked in to the embassy guest housing, get assigned to rooms (4 to a room), head to our rooms, quickly freshen up and then head out for our first set of mtgs. We initially meet with various Embassy officials to discuss high level agenda and what not. We're of course bombarded with jargon and acronyms we've never heard before. We then get a 30 min security briefing telling us what we can and can't do, in addition to protocol on taking pictures. Luckily, everything is OK so long as we do it at least one day after the fact and never mention what we plan to do in the future since we could easily be targetted and kidnapped. This security briefing really got me excited - sounded so dangerous! :)

After this, we headed to the house of Gen Nasser Abadi who is the Iraqi Armed forces vice chief of staff. We had a very fine dinner and chatted for a couple of hrs before we headed back to the US embassy compound. What was really nervwracking was that every 5 mins or so, you'd hear a helicopter hover over us...then seconds later, another one. All night long. I found out that they come in two's for safety reasons. I also found out that my cell phone will rarely work while here. It turns out that there is cell phone signal jammers all over so it prevents any IEDs from exploding via remote device. Kind of a bummer since my cell service is sporadic, but I'd take that any day than an IED on the road! :)

That was the end of day one...so far so good.