A Day in Anbar, Part II

After the briefing in Fallujah, we boarded Marine Chinooks (larger helicopters with two horizontal rotating blades) and took off for Ramadi. Ramadi is the provincial capital, and was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in Iraq until a few months ago, and now coalition forces can walk around without body armor.

We landed at Camp Blue Diamond, between the cleverly named JDAM Palace (a JDAM is a very heavy bomb, and this particular palace was partially destroyed by one) and another grand palace that Saddam for some reason constructed without putting in any plumbing. The JDAM is currently an Iraqi Army (IA) facility, while the head-less wonder (get it?) holds the offices of the commander of the Iraqi 7th Infantry Division.

There we split into two groups: one for the decision-makers who went off to tour the city's government center, to meet with the governor and chief provincial judge and examine the site of the "temporary" rule of law facility where judges would begin work while the plumbing-less palace was retrofitted into a courthouse; and the other, mine, to meet the "mayor" of Blue Diamond (a first sergeant) and go over the logistics of moving IA and coalition facilities and constructing/renovating new ones for the rule of law complex.

Here I should explain that the plans for the Ramadi Rule of Law Complex are much less ambitious than the existing Rusafa Complex, both because Anbar is much smaller than Baghdad (just 1.something million) and because it's all Sunni, so security needs are much smaller.

Then we had lunch at the base DFAC -- smaller and sparser than our opulent embassy facility, to be sure, but still some mighty fine chow -- whose plywood interior eating area was positively festooned with flags representing all the teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL (because there are lots of soldiers from Edmonton here, so wouldn't want to leave the Oilers out). Just to make it feel like home -- assuming your home was a combination ESPN Zone and boy scout camp.

Finally we got a tour of all the assorted palaces, villas, and other buildings that would make up the rule of law compound, and headed back to the facility-lacking facility to check out the general's quarters and have a "hot wash" meeting, gauging everyone's impressions of and ideas for the project. I can't really reveal any more about this deal because it's sensitive politically (as opposed to for security reasons, for once), but there was a mood of cautious optimism. This can be done.

Finally we boarded our Chinooks and headed for home, again over the austere, desolate land we've come to know and broil in.