a mobilized year

While I was away on leave, I was asked on a number of occasions, “what is it really like over there?” Because it’s difficult to answer that question in the implied 30 seconds that one has to reply, my responses often varied, depending on the person and his or her interest. For my own sake, I frequently reflect on the question.

I put together a presentation for my daughter’s school. I touched on a variety of topics that addressed that very issue—living conditions, language, equipment, “how the war is going,” interactions with Iraqis, culture, weather, religion, geography, etc. I included plenty of pictures. One topic I decided to cover was media reporting.

I don’t have an axe to grind with the media. Based on the questions that I had received while on leave (and from listening to the BBC and NPR while I’m in country) though, there were some things that I wanted to highlight that from my anecdotal experiences weren’t accurate portrayals of what was going on, or issues or topics that weren’t being communicated back home, but of which at least I thought would be interesting to most citizens.

Below is a list and brief description of some of those topics.

• Every day crime (it’s responsible for a significant portion of the violence you hear about in the news even though it’s typically not reported as such and rolled up in the “insurgent violence” numbers—frequently involving a combination of turf battle, theft, revenge, and protection issues).
• Shia on Shia violence (it happens a lot as the various Shia groups struggle for
power. This was in part the reason for the recent crackdown in Basrah).
• A main source of IEDs is Iran (I’ve heard a couple of media reports on this, but most people don’t know it).
• There’s not a single Iraqi voice or belief about the Coalition Force presence in Iraq (I have a lot of stories I’m not at liberty to talk about, but suffice it to say, their opinions are as varied as ours).
• Soldiers are very aware of what goes on back in the States (we’ve got blogs, imbedded media, internet access, and TV in most mess halls).
• About one-half of the Iraqi population is under age 20 (see chart
below)
• Most Iraqis have never known any ruler other than Saddam and any system of government other than tyranny.
• Most Iraqis are familiar with socialism but few are familiar with a true free enterprise system or the benefits and responsibilities of a participatory democratic society.

While good news and positive information are shared back home on occasion, they usually are not. Have you heard about the following:

• Internet subscribers have risen from 5,000 before the war to 196,000 by last September.
• There were no commercial TV stations in Iraq before the war. Today there are 44.
• There were no independent newspapers or magazines in Iraq before the war. Today there are more than 100.
• There were no commercial radio stations in Iraq before the war. Today there are 72.
• Over 3,400 Public Schools and 30 Water and Sewage Projects have been built.
• Iraq's death rate per thousand: 5.37 (est.), U.S. death rate per thousand: 8.26 (est.) (I assume that’s in large part because of the young population).

Any way, those are some of the things I’ve learned over here and some of my anecdotal observations.