Signs are Everywhere

[gilliam]

Signs are everywhere

strengthandhonor.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/eshabi_1.JPG This is another example of progress that is lost on most journalists. As the man who handles intelligence for an infantry unit, it is my business to notice the stuff you see in this picture. Baghdad is a mess in many ways. The streets are filthy. Garbage is everywhere, and the place smells terrible in most areas. These conditions preceded the invasion. Since the invasion, there have been thousands of instances of anti-coalition grafitti. This has been going on for the past two years. What is new is what you see in this picture. The grafitti is *painted over by the locals! *This is increasingly common. We don’t paint over grafitti. We don’t have the time, and most of it is on private property. What we are hearing in most areas is that the locals are no longer afraid to do so themselves.

from: Major K.

 

[gilliam]

More from Major K.

Catching up again

strengthandhonor.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/editorial.jpg As with any transfer of authority, there are bugs during the transition. One for us, has been communications problems. Our systems that we need to function and fight are working ok, but some of the “nice to have” systems have been in a terrible state. One of those is the civilian internet. It has been down for the last 5 days. It is now back up only on a limited basis. That, combined with the fact that I have been working my tail off is the reason why I have not posted for several days. It is now about 4:45am and things are going well. Since we nailed the guy who wounded our guy, IED activity in the area has dropped off significantly. The drive to work is much safer now. There are other signs of progress that I will share in my next post. I still have to download the pictures. For now, here is one that I really like. It is an editorial cartoon from one of the newspapers here in Baghdad. The placard says: “Keep your city clean. Put terrorists in the trash.” I love it. It ran in the papers about a week after the election. I showed it to one of our interpreters, and he got a kick out of it. He especially liked the purple fingertip. I have much more to post, but now must sleep.