Jane Stillwater’s 17th Report: — Bringing it all back home: I’m almost on my way back from Iraq….

Bringing it all back home: I’m almost on my way back from Iraq….


 


By Jane Stillwater
http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com


 


A few days ago, Multi-National Forces-Iraq flew a bunch of us journalists down to Diwaniyah by helicopter to a press conference about the recent cleanup action conducted there.  Before we left the the Green Zone press room, they handed us a press release on Operation Black Eagle that read, “Soldiers from the Iraqi Army and coalition forces entered their third day of fighting against illegally-armed militia in Diwaniyah in order to secure the city and provide stability to the region.”


 


“Wow!” I thought.  This was finally it!  I was gonna go for a helicopter ride, embed outside the Green Zone and actually see with my own eyes the site of an actual firefight — to say nothing about seeing an actual Iraqi town.


 


The helicopter ride to Diwaniyah was spectacular.  For almost an hour, we skimmed over fields of rice and/or wheat, adobe brick compounds, sheep and cows.  As we looked down out of the open helicopter door onto a pastoral scene almost older than time, peaceful rural Iraq seemed so very far away from the violence and suspicion of war.


 


So.  Did I attend the press conference?  Yep.  Did I get lunch at the military base’s dining facility?  You bet!  Did I set foot in the town?  Not even one toe — let alone a whole shoe!  “Sorry,” said our minder, “but we don’t have time to go outside the base.”  It was a fabulous helicopter ride.  It was an informative press conference.  But did I meet any day-to-day Iraqis?  No.  Did I step outside the wire?  No no no.  As we left the base however, I did catch a glimpse of Diwaniyah out of the corner of my eye from the helicopter — so I guess that I HAD been to th

April 2007
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