Basrah

The new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad must be deaf, dumb and blind. He ran the United States Embassy in Iraq for two years and never noticed the U.N. was there the whole time? Now he is announcing that the U.S. welcomes the presence of the U.N. in Iraq. I attended a few meetings with the U.N. members in Iraq, and the fact is, as far as I could tell, we didn’t want anything to do with them. The Bush Administration duplicity and pretence is showing here.

In 2003, immediately after our invasion of Iraq, American contractors began pouring in to the country.
Taking advantage of Paul Bremer’s order, which effectively dissolved all of the civil institutions and Iraq, the contractors seized buildings and property formally owned by the Iraqi government and even civilian and business property. The area around Saddam’s Palace where, in 2003, the Coalition Provincial Authority had set up their headquarters, (Now the U.S. Embassy), was the prime real estate for contractors, military command units, government agencies and coalition senior officer quarters. The Green Zone was the place to be. All the money was coming through there, and there was lots of money. If one could establish his foothold there, as a civilian contractor, the chances of getting contracts were greater than being located outside of the Green Zone.

The action was in the palace. In 2003 and 2004 the spacious lobbies of the Palace were like the floor of the stock exchange. Deals were being cut and money was changing hands seven days a week, 24 hours a day. It was the wild west.

On May 7th I read an associated Press release on my Yahoo internet sight. I could not believe what I was reading. I am now sure that we have now, knowingly and willing, entered the Iraqi Civil war squarely on the side of the Shia Majority who have, since our arrival in Iraq, terrorized the Sunni Minority who, during the reign of Saddam, lorded power over the Shia and insured they suffered considerably.

We are now, effectively, allies with the Shia in Iraq in their civil war with the Sunni Muslims.

Four Years Ago I arrived in Iraq. I left Three Years Later, Different

Today, March 19, 2007, marks the 4th anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq.

Two months from now four years ago I was driving across the Southern border of Iraq on my way to assume the position as the CPA Airport Director of Basrah International Airport. It was an electric time. From my perspective, America and several other countries had just liberated a people form a tyrannical dictator who had spent the past three decades repressing and killing them.

In Basrah, Iraq the people welcomed the presence of the Coalition soldiers and came into the streets waving and cheering the newly arrived liberation army. That willingness to embrace their liberators did not last long.

Within a few months of our arrival the population of Iraq began to be disillusioned by our occupation and openly began to resist our efforts to direct their future. Within a year, that disillusionment would become an insurgency.

A Few Things about Iraq You Probably Have Never Been Told (Generally speaking)

By Marshall Adame

1.In the United States Embassy in Iraq there are a couple of hundred Iraqi workers. They are badged and vetted. No hostile incident has ever occurred in the US Embassy executed by an Iraqi employee of the U.S. Embassy. In fact, the Iraqis working for and in the US Embassy have turned out to be great assets to the operation as a whole and have contributed more than expected and have gone the extra mile to help achieve stability in Iraq. Most are risking there very lives every day by working for the US Embassy, but through various forms of cloak and dagger secrecy they are able to make their way to the Green Zone to work on behalf of the Coalition and their country. (Most Iraqis are not the enemy).

BEING BRAVE (A true story of Iraqi people)

Being Brave is something that most of the worlds population are doing just about everyday of their lives. Some to a greater degree than others, but then, bravery is a big word with lots of room.

When I was in Iraq, in 2003, as the CPA Airport Director of Basrah International Airport there were about 400 Iraqi airport employees who officially worked on the airport. Two of those employees worked in my office.

One served as my secretary and the other as bookkeeper. They were young women in their twenties who, before our arrival, had never even seen an American, let alone worked for one. They were bright, highly educated, friendly, spoke English and their clerical skills were beyond reproach. Both were filled with enthusiasm and the desire to learn as much as they could about the new job and about the foreigners, British and American, who had come to rescue them from the clutches of Saddam Hussain.

Six Blunders We Made In Iraq We Can Still Fix

By Marshall Adame
August 27, 2006

When I arrived in Iraq in mid 2003 as the newly appointed Coalition Airport Director for Basrah International Airport I was sure that what we, the US led coalition, had just done by invading Iraq, was a good thing. I likened our arrival in Iraq to the rescuing of people in a burning building. It was risky and it brought with it ramifications that no-one could predict. Our arrival in Iraq was a rescue effort of the highest degree, long overdue and welcomed by the Iraqi citizens who had suffered so greatly under the Saddam regime. Our president told the world that we were there to “do the right thing” and I believed him. I also felt an awareness of the incredible commitment we brought with us. We entered Iraq without invitation; consequently our commitment had to be whole and complete. The Iraqi citizens, owed us nothing, we owed them our word of honor that our presence was on their behalf. I mean it. This is how I felt, in fact, I still feel this commitment to these suffering people, who’s daily trials and woes, for many reasons, have increased ten fold since our arrival.