by Gina Chon
Today was a perfect day for flying in Baghdad. The skies were clear, the sun was shining and there was just a hint of a breeze.
The weather was not as cooperative earlier this week, when there was two days of hazy skies, strong winds, and dust swirls that put a light brown film on everything outdoors.

That meant helicopters, which are a critical means of transportation for reporters in Iraq, were grounded. Flights were canceled, press events were postponed and journalists, diplomats and soldiers all over Iraq had to rejigger their travel plans. It was strangely quiet on those days, as I’m used to hearing the whirring sound of helicopters passing overhead numerous times a day.
Trying to get around in Iraq can be a hugely daunting task. Although overall violence has gone down, it’s still not safe for foreigners to just hop in a car and go, especially if you want to go out to the provinces. That means traveling by helicopter, which can often be unpredictable.
I’ve heard of journalists falling asleep on helicopters and accidentally ending up in Kuwait.
And you can bet on your helicopter making numerous stops before you reach your destination, which means a half hour trip turns into a two-hour ride, By the end, your ears are ringing, even if you are wearing ear plugs.
The military does a good job in organizing this logistical nightmare of transporting hundreds of people by helicopter every day in Iraq. But the sheer size of the task is bound to cause problems, and the weather doesn’t always allow for travel.
A few weeks ago, I went to a town about 25 miles outside Baghdad in Diyala province to report on a story. Since it was supposed to be just a day trip, I didn’t bring a sleeping bag, toothbrush or any other amenities that I usually travel with for longer trips. Big mistake.
At the end of a long day, we waited for nearly two hours outside in the cold for our helicopter to arrive. Then we got word that helos across Iraq were grounded because of the rainy, windy weather. And our military hosts didn’t know if flights would resume later that day or if we would have to wait until the morning to return home.
As I am a woman, they wanted to put me in the medic’s tent so I could sleep alone, except for the company of IVs, gurneys and other medical equipment. But that meant being by myself for hours at a combat outpost in the middle of nowhere without anything to do. I declined and said I’d rather stay with the rest of the group. So they put us in trailers that contained four beds in each hooch.
The conditions would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been freezing and the heater in the trailer blasting only lukewarm air. I slept with my coat, gloves and boots on but I still shivered throughout the night.
The next morning, we were told we would likely be stuck for another night but the military would at least move us to another base that was bigger and had better accommodations. In the end, some of the U.S. officials I was traveling with asked a U.S. general they were supposed to be meeting to send his helicopter to get us. We got home later that afternoon. Of course it would’ve only taken a half hour to drive home, but that wasn’t an option.
On another recent trip, I got halfway to my destination and had to stay the night in a tent with about 20 oldiers. I tried to ignore their stares — and the smell in the tent — and found a cot to sleep on. Most of the soldiers in the tent were headed home for their R&R so I talked to them about the first things they were going to do when they got home. They all said they were going to drink a beer, or five.
The next day meant more hours of waiting until the birds that were to take us home arrived later that afternoon. Luckily I ran into some other journalists who had slept on benches in the small air terminal at the base. We kept each other company and compared how long it had been since each of us had taken a shower.
That’s why I’m always so grateful to see the landing zone I often travel out of in Baghdad. Even after a day trip, it feels like I’m seeing a long-lost friend.
What is gained by the killing of their own people? This is not about faith or belief it is only about power, the power of total control. And for the un-educated, ignorant and the poor devils that some one evil can convince to strap a bomb on to themselves, the lies continue about rewards and honor and being a martyer, NO FAITH, not yours and not mine will have any where in the Koran, Bible etc. anything anywhere about the murder of the innocent or the taking of a life being RIGHT ! No where.
These people are taking text out of content for personal power, control and dominance.
There is nothing about faith in what the terrorist and extremist are doing. And they know it and the ones that stay out of it know it and yet, the True Muslim, The True Believer will not stop this……… an eye for eye, they are killing your babies, killing your future, and you do nothing. It is not something that can be understood by the rest of the world.
IF ( Heaven Forbid) we get a Democratic President in America, Iraq will be left to it’s own, and this is what the evil ones in Iran, the Saudies and more are waiting for, and the murders and killing will escalate, but this time America won’t be there. People are dying every where and until each country takes control of the dictators and stops their rule or choose’s to live under them DO NOT CALL FOR AMERICAN HELP ! AND WE SHOULD STOP ALL AID TO THOSE WHO HAVE NOT STOOD WITH US.
It is time for each country to secide how they want to live, in Freedom or in Dictatorship…….. and do so, but do not America to free you, support you, because with a liberal and Democratic President we won’t answer the phone… even at 3 AM. And if Obama should get elected ( Please LORD NO ) then he will have this country so broke so down in a short time we may not be able to help ourselves. So, don’t call us, we will be having our own hell here.
Both of the Demo’s running have been under Federal investigations, both have their own skeltons and both will bring this country down be it one or the other or together.
So Iraq, NAFTA, FAIR TRADE, SS, Bye Bye, but welcome more taxes to pay for all these ” Free” programs they want to “give” you. And welcome socialized medicine like that in Canada where more and more die waiting for help, and they want to give you programs where we can create more and more generation welfare families, and oh yes, they may even want to give you a crash course in religious freedom… changes, depending on who gets on top. There will be CHANGES, but please remember this, You Will Not Like Them !!!!!
So, think hard and think long before you give a valuable part of being an American, your VOTE.