Novembr 7, 2006
In mid-April, 2003, Baghdad skies were still heavy with fumes from the Shock and Awe bombing. The intersection immediately outside our hotel was filled with scores of newly arrived invading U.S. Marines. We began to grow acquainted with many of the Marines who stood guard next to bulldozers, Armored Personnel Carriers, tanks, and humvees. First there were mutually curious exchanges, then longer conversations over water and dates.
Within a few days, we realized that the Marines were protecting the Ministry of Oil building, but that numerous other places were vulnerable to looting and destruction. Alarmed by a rumor that people in Hilla faced an outbreak of cholera because of contaminated drinking water, we wondered if perhaps the Marines weren’t getting information about ways to deliver clean water. Were they having trouble locating various hospitals in critical need of protection? Were they aware that there had been no garbage collection for the past month? Did they need information about where to find humanitarian relief organizations? We sent two of our folks over to visit with the U.S. authorities at the Palestine Hotel. The response to our overture was polite, but unmistakable: “Get Lost.” You could read about this on E-Iraq’s archives (April 16, 2003, “Heavy-handed and hopeless, the U.S. military doesn’t know what it’s doing in Iraq,”) and see a picture that shows Marines setting up a makeshift sign banning Voices in the Wilderness from re-entry into their headquarters.
