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
By Jane
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
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
