Baghdad – Frustrated Ranting
I’m tired, it’s hot, and I bitch a lot. Working in Baghdad has changed. It’s no longer a place where you can walk outside the hotel and the stories hurl themselves at you. It’s now hard work finding...
View ArticleBaghdad – Sick and Tired, but thoughtful
I spend the day in bed and write a lot. There is so much need in Baghdad, it’s so awful. And it surrounds you every where you go. I had my driver drop me off a block from the hotel. While walking...
View ArticleBaghdad – Oil and Fire
Visiting an oil refinery, getting a sense of the oil industry–surprisingly strong–and visiting a fire at a gas station. I had the best reporting day I’ve had in a while. I started as I always do at...
View ArticleBaghdad – Sex and Politics
I eat food, realize I’m a colonialist and learn what sex means to iraqis. I feel like I don’t have a lot to write today. I’m particularly exhausted. I had a very early briefing from the US Treasury...
View ArticleBaghdad – Lovely dinner, gunfire
How to live a good life on the road. I took the day off and barely left my hotel. It was a much-needed rest. My translator and driver came by at 2 and we went to lunch. At lunch my translator was...
View ArticleBaghdad – Politics and Guns
Traveling around Baghdad talking to it’s future leaders makes me feel kind of sick. I spent the day going around to the different political parties, trying to figure out what their plans are for the...
View ArticleAmman – Sleeping and luxuriating
I finally make it out of Baghdad and enjoy deluxe accomodations and comfy sheets. I’m in my five-star hotel in Amman right now, luxuriating in air conditioning, minibar, room service, and I’m watching...
View ArticleBaghdad – Happy to be back, hating the Americans
I gleefully return to Baghdad, drink too much, and become depressed about the American overseers of this country. I’ve been back in Baghdad a few days but have been running around so much and, really,...
View ArticleBaghdad — Horrible Hospitals, Jews, Hot Days, Angry Shi’ites
I complain about how hard it is to work and then realize how lucky I am to be here. And see some Hebrew and the most depressing hospital. One quick note. I love getting emails about the site, but I...
View ArticleBaghdad — Thaura Will Blow
I went back to Thaura, formerly Saddam City, the place where millions of poor Shi’ites live in Baghdad, where all the looted stuff gets sold. I wanted to see where the poorest people live and we went...
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