Melanie's Memo from Iraq #12

Mass in the Language of Jesus

Articles from War

By LTC Melanie Meier

 

Prior to the 2003 start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, an estimated 1.2 million Christians lived in Iraq.  For several reasons that number today is thought to be down around 600,000.  Extremist groups have targeted Iraqi Christians with the prime example being the 2007 kidnapping and execution of the Chaldean Catholic Arch Bishop and two other priests in Baghdad. But despite continued threats to their lives, these holy men have remained loyal to the Pope and the Church while staying in Iraq to help the Iraqi people with their struggle for peace.

 

Last weekend Bishop Imad Al Banna, a priest and native of Basra Iraq, came to Camp Adder to share Mass with Catholic Soldiers and to spread his word of peace. Bishop Al Banna serves as deputy to the Arch Bishop of all Chaldean Catholics and his Bishopric includes responsibility for all of southern Iraq. 

 

For those of us attending this Mass it was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear the ancient sacraments in Aramaic, the language of Jesus. The Bishop combined parts of the Mass in Aramaic and English, and he had an interpreter for his homily. He thanked us for leaving our homes and traveling so far for peace. He also thanked us for all our work to help provide his nation with a government that cares about and for its people. He told us such governments were the key to peace.  He also stressed that although he is a Catholic he helps all the Iraqi people in southern Iraq, not just Christians.

 

The sing-song chanting of the familiar prayers in the language of Jesus had a calming effect and it was neat to hear members of the congregation responding. Many of our interpreters are Iraqi/American Christians who returned to Iraq to do their part for the Iraqi people and I met two the day before the Mass. One was from Basra like the Bishop and even had a tie to my home. He works for a Human Terrain Team based out of Fort Leavenworth. 

 

Like the Iraqi/Americans who work as role players for the Battle Command Training Program out of the Fort, they tell you that the Chaldean Christians of Iraq are the "real Iraqis" whose ancestors once thrived in the birth place of Abraham. As he graciously posed for pictures with every soldier there, Bishop Al Banna actually thanked us for allowing him to serve Mass in the land of the prophet, Abraham.

Melanie's Articles from War #11

Articles from War

Palaces surrounded by water

By LTC Melanie Meier

 

While Iraq is definitely not the only place in the world that has a vivid contrast between the haves and the have nots, Baghdad felt like a place from medieval times that had persisted into the 21st century.  While visiting to attend a Conference at Victory Base Compound, I was excited for the chance to see the palace that today serves as headquarters of Multi National Corps Iraq (MNC-I). Despite my excitement, I knew that getting there was going to be a challenge because traveling in Iraq is not the most convenient or the most comfortable activity.

What would take a few hours to travel in the comfort of your own car back home takes hours here of sweating in your "full battle rattle," either in the back of a MRAP on a convoy, in the back of a C-130 or in a helicopter praying the weather holds and you do not get stuck somewhere. Despite the inconvenience and sweat, I was ready for a change in scenery.

Before my arrival, I knew Victory Base Compound was big and surrounded by abutting camps, but once there I was surprised by what I saw and experienced. During my husband's tour of Iraq in 2005, he told me about running around Lost Lake and watching soldiers fish on the huge man made lake that was part of Saddam Hussein's old hunting preserve. However, I was not prepared for the contrast between the apparent luxury that used to exist here and the starkness of Camp Adder where I am stationed in southern Iraq.

Trees, grass and lots of water surround the grand buildings, pools, bath houses, barbeque sites, islands and houseboats. There was so much to see that what to focus on first was a real challenge.  This area was once a rich, exclusive club for the Ba'athists and Saddam's family and consists of three large palaces sitting within sight of one another, all surrounded by man-made lakes.

The conference actually took place in the Al Faw Palace, which Saddam built 18 years ago to commemorate the Iraqis who died recapturing the Al Faw Peninsula from the Iranians. Because he insisted construction be completed in two years, the palace now suffers from the rush. Unlike the stately palaces of Europe with their master craftsmanship and top-of-the-line materials, the Al Faw Palace is actually disintegrating.  At first glance it looks grand containing huge rooms, foyers, chandeliers, staircases, bathrooms, a ballroom/grand dining room, and other opulent quarters.

 At closer inspection though, the marble is actually tile facades and the staircases are made of gypsum, a softer material in which to work. What looks like gold is really brass. The chandeliers are plastic, but glass is intermittently used to add sparkle and Styrofoam fills the spaces in walls and floors that did not match up correctly. 

Proper soil compression was not done before the foundation was laid, causing obvious shifting and cracking throughout the palace.  Walls bulge, marble facades snap, and some of the arches, which represent the strongest structure in architecture, crumble from the pressure. 

From the balconies of the Al Faw Palace, I could see the Perfume Palace and the Victory over America Palace. The Perfume Palace, originally built for one of Saddam's brothers and his family, was turned into a Ba'ath Party amusement center after their deaths. The Victory over America Palace was never finished although it was to be about a third larger than the Al Faw. Three cranes still surround the abandoned building site.

Saddam had many villas built for his family and dignitaries. The two that were constructed for his sons, Uday and Qusay, still bear huge holes from US missile attacks. All of these are on the water and in the morning a cool breeze sweeps over the peaceful man-made lakes that are still full of the fish that Saddam imported for sport and geese glide on the water. At the Al Faw Palace a picture hangs of a soldier lying on the ground next to a Tigris Salmon, measuring five feet, ten and a half inches long! 

According to the self-guided tour book, the villa complex once included horse stables, a race track, date groves, wheat fields, a zoo, pools, cinema, walking paths and much more.  These areas now serve as living areas for Coalition Forces and the one hill in the area, made from dirt dug out to form the man-made lakes, is covered with antennas and satellite dishes. To fill the lakes, Saddam turned the water off to the city of Baghdad for three days. Today the water level is maintained by a pipeline from the Tigris River that also includes a series of canals and locks that connect them all together. 

Just the thought of all this water, and the 29 bathrooms in the Al Faw Palace, is flabbergasting compared to the dried up marshland of south Iraq which still has places without running water.  Still, I am thankful for the opportunity to see this for myself. For me, it was like Saddam's Iraq was a place from medieval times that had persisted into the 21st century. 

Melanie's Articles on War from Iraq # 10

Articles on War

Finding hope from water shortage

By LTC Melanie Meier

 

The message from Contingency Operating Base (COB) Adder's Garrison Headquarters started, "Attention COB Adder: Effective immediately, COB Adder's water conservation level is changed from Level 2 to Level 3."

 

With the heat of late summer averaging from 120 to 135 degrees and this announcement that Camp Adder's water conservation level had become more restrictive, I learned of challenges being faced outside our military base. Up until now our water restrictions inside the military base kept us from washing equipment and limited us to "combat showers" of two minutes or less. These newer restrictions shut down the self-serve laundry facilities and some contractor work areas were left without water all together. Fortunately, our bottled water is plentiful because we have a bottling plant right here operated by one of our units who also pumps the water and filters it.

 

Outside our military base it is a different story. As the primary source of water for us and the local Iraqi people, the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers serve a vital role. The military base draws water from the Euphrates River, then filters it and either bottles it or pumps it to our dining facilities, latrines and shower trailers. Outside the wire, filtering can not be taken for granted.

 

This is one area where COB Adder's Civil Affairs teams have made a difference by providing villages with solar-powered water filtration systems, and the Provincial Reconstruction Teams have ensured that enough locals are trained to operate and maintain the systems once we were gone. Recently, I learned two things about the water situation in southern Iraq from a young Civil Affairs specialist. I was told that dysentery had risen the past two years in this region, which was what prompted Civil Affairs units to become involved in the filtration system project.

 

He also told me that malaria threatens children and pregnant mothers each year during the peak mosquito months of May, June, September, and October. Here in dusty hot Tallil, I do not worry too much about mosquitoes, but it makes sense that they are a threat in the cities and villages where most of the people live, near the main water source, the Euphrates River.

 

I was surprised when the Specialist told me about the latest project at Camp Adder's water reservoir. He and another Specialist have constructed a breeding safe haven for the gambusia affinis, or mosquito fish, that loves to eat mosquito larva. Intending to release them in force into the Euphrates, the Specialists nurture the guppy-sized fish in a fort built of camouflage netting and sandbags. This was their own idea, and they received permission to work on the project on their own time.

 

As this project continues, my hope is that their commitment and resolve pay off, not only for all the Iraqi people that they will help but for the shining example of two young Americans going out of their way to help. I am proud that our soldiers are not only the most disciplined, adaptable, and effective force in the world but also consist of smart and inventive individuals. Our talented soldiers, like this pair, come up with great ideas and the Army recognizes that and tries to utilize everyone to his or her fullest potential, and give them room to grow.

 

Although the water being pumped from the lower levels of the river on these hot days of summer may be a bit murky and we need to be more careful with our usage, there is a bright spot in those cloudy waters.

 

Where water buffalo flourished

By LTC Melanie Meier

As I looked outside the boundaries of Combined Operating Base Adder, my home away from home these past few months, I sigh. It is a sad site consisting of a pancake-flat horizon, which is brown, and holds nothing but dirt as far as the eye can see. Hard to imagine that the Garden of Eden was once a few miles from this very place and 5,000 years ago this area was covered with water, where homes built of reeds floated and water buffalo flourished.

Oddly enough, when I voiced these thoughts not long afterwards, my visitor that day told me he had actually flown over marshes and water buffalo. Based at Basrah, he had taken a short 20 minute helicopter flight southeast of here, and had flown over the marshes he claimed were returning. The marshes were even chronicled in the 1964 book The Marsh Arabs by the British writer, Wilfred Thesiger. That explained the mysterious cool breeze I enjoyed on the Basrah "layover" that occurred on my way back to COB Adder from my R&R leave last month. At the time I thought the breeze felt like it had traveled over water, but attributed it to the pure relief of getting out of the stuffy C-130.

Whether the breeze was imagined or not, I learned that as recently as the 1950s a half million Marsh Arabs lived within 8,000 square miles that formed the triangle of An Nasiriyah, Al Amarah, and Al Basrah. In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein reportedly used chemicals on the Iranians he thought were coming through the marshes and poisoned the water. In the 1990s, Hussein delivered the finishing blow to the marshes which had become a base for rebel attacks and a haven for refugees. He ordered helicopters to fire on the people, kill as many as they could, and drive off the remainder. A series of dams were erected and a great canal called the "Mother of all Battles River" was constructed to cut off and drain the waters from the Euphrates, which was the major water source. Once the marshes were dry, the reeds were set alight. With the marshes dry and no vegetation left, the silt turned to powdery fine dust and is now what we breathe every day here in Tallil. Some dusty days are worse than others.

Immediately after the US invasion in 2003, excited Iraqis tore down more than just statues of Saddam. Over 100 dams were destroyed in this region in an attempt to bring the marshes back to life. My friend from Basrah explained that some villagers have returned, but the people live with no paved roads, no electricity, no schools, and no medicine.

By now my curiosity had peaked so as soon as I could I turned to the Internet to see if I could learn more. What I discovered was that a new partnership called "The New Eden Team," was working to help the region recover from this manmade environmental disaster. The Team consists of Nature Iraq, which is an Iraqi non-governmental organization organized to protect, restore, and preserve the country's natural environment, various Iraqi Ministries and science communities, experts from Italy, and many concerned citizens who live in the southern Iraq region. This partnership estimates that 65% of the marshes have been reflooded and half of those have revegetated. Also approximately 80 bird species have returned.

Maybe someday visitors to Tallil will be able to see something other than this never-ending brown. Little hope exists for a return of the estimated eleven bird species and three mammal species that became extinct with the destruction of the marshes. However, Nature Iraq's website (www.natureiraq.org) reports the return of a threatened bird species call the Iraq babbler, and who knows, I just might catch sight of one rising out of reeds, rather than dust.

Faces of Amarah

By LTC Melanie Meier

Recently I met a young specialist assigned to a Civil Affairs unit from California. His unit spends its days with the Iraqi people, conducting Civil Military Operations, such as his latest mission to deliver and set up water purification units throughout the Province. As inspector general at Camp Adder, I do not get many opportunities to leave the security of the "wire" to visit places like Amarah, which is a few kilometers east of here situated between Camp Adder and the border with Iran. However, I do meet young soldiers who spend their days outside the "wire" like the specialist from California.

So, I asked him what he was thinking as he traveled out and lived among the Iraqis.

"Scenes like this remind me of home, but in an unconventional way," he explained. "On more than one occasion, for reasons I acknowledge fully and embrace with good humor, I have been mistaken for a local national. So much so that in the middle of one particular mission, an Iraqi pointed out that if I were to wear a dishdasha (a man dress) and a yashmagh and agal (Arabic head dress) I could pass for an Iraqi."



While talking not long ago with a diverse group of men and women, he was asked his opinion about Iraq. After expressing "my hope and goodwill for Iraq and its people, I was then asked by the group, via the interpreter, which part of the Middle East I was from."



Amarah is the capitol of the Maysan Province in Iraq. In 2003, the city made a final stand as a center of resistance to Saddam Hussein. Once liberated by the British, the local residents hired diggers to unearth bodies in a mass grave Saddam's regime left twelve years before.



"For me, Iraq and the Maysan Province have a sweet and innocent sense of home. It is on many of these foreign dirt roads that I find the pieces and faces of home. Amongst the crowds of happy children, who are grateful to receive pens, paper, backpacks, and blankets I tend to see, for a split moment, the face of my young niece smiling and full of joy, like when I would hug her and she would hold me ever so tight in the warm embrace of her smiles. Then she is gone, only to reappear again in the arms of a woman veiled in black, or perhaps peaking through a slightly open iron gate, rusted and faded from green to lime, waving and cheering as we pass by. It's a beautiful thing to be able to find traces of home, love, and faith when distance and longing for a loved one grips your heart."

I am thankful that this specialist shared his thoughts and feelings with me. I feel lucky to be able to meet and serve the fine young men and women who have volunteered to join our military and come to Iraq for a mission so much bigger than themselves, and yet so very personal. Like the specialist's description of the colors that surround him.
"The ancient rhythmic colors of Arabic gold and blue, and how red and green define an essence of life that paints the walls, homes, and people of Amarah. When driving along unimproved streets and roads the town reminds me of neglected fifteen century frescos from another time, another place."

A dignified transfer

By LTC Melanie Meier

With no warning, all communication between Combined Operating Base Adder and the outside world was blocked. So after a day without the Internet or emails and no phone calls outside of the COB, I was eager to log on once the system returned. As I clicked onto my emails, the first one caught me off guard. It was from Mortuary Affairs and a "Dignified Transfer" for soldiers killed in action would occur at the installation's Ali Base Airfield, Tallil. The COB had lost someone this day and this was an opportunity to pay respect to our fallen comrade.

The ceremony would take place that evening at 9 p.m. I on the arrived on the airfield to find a single C-130 with the rear ramp down. Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines made a human corridor in rows facing inward and leading to the ramp. As I noticed the color guard in the rear, it dawned on me that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone stood at attention and silence hung over the airfield. Then an unmarked, white truck arrived at the edge of the airfield and stopped.

In step, seven soldiers approached the truck. Two airmen opened the back and someone called the entire airfield to "present arms." As all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines saluted, the group of seven picked up the flag-draped coffin, silently marched through the corridor and onto the C-130. As they secured the coffin tightly in place, I noticed it was the Chaplain, who stood ever present and close by.

Once our comrade was secure for his flight out of Iraq, the pall bearers and Chaplain retreated as the command to "order arms" rang over the airfield. As one, the human corridor turned away from the C-130 and marched off the airfield followed by the color guard. Although I did not know the soldier's name, the dignity of his farewell touched my heart and I will always remember him.

I was also reminded that it is still dangerous over here. Now that U.S. forces have exited the Iraqi cities, attacks may increase in some areas on military and civilians. My next door CHU (containerized housing unit) neighbor, who works with the Iraqi Army every day, tells me to consider such attacks normal. It is the insurgents' way of claiming they are chasing us out.

Today I experienced My First Indirect Fire.

By LTC Melanie Meier

As I observed my fourth week at Camp Adder, I had to admit that I was finally feeling settled. I have a private trailer, or CHU (containerized housing unit) as they call it here. I drive a Chevy Trailblazer while inside the Camp's compound, and my office includes two rooms with air conditioning and a refrigerator. I have all the comforts of home, except indoor plumbing at the office.

So there I was, sitting at my desk, catching up on my Inspector General database and waiting for a Battalion Commander who wanted to talk to me about one of his soldiers, when suddenly I heard a loud explosion. I stopped, looked north, and there was another explosion. I thought, that sure was strange, because I did not remember any announcements about controlled detonations taking place today. An Explosive Ordnance Detachment (EOD) range was not far away and regular explosions occur when EOD blows up suspicious items as well as the IEDs found quite regularly around here.

Then I heard the siren. And that's when my heart started pounding. What if someone had been hit? What if more rounds were coming? Without really thinking I quickly donned my "Improved Tactical Outer Vest," commonly known as my bullet-proof body armor, my helmet, and I waited.

While listening to my heart beat, I looked around and realized how lucky I was to actually work in a concrete building left over from the Iraqi Airbase that used to be here in Tallil. In 2003, our troops took this facility and, from what I have heard from friends who passed through here six years ago on the way to Baghdad, the base contained only a few buildings and an airplane bone yard. Camp Adder was put into operation in 2005 after much of it was cleaned up. Today just a few airplane shells remain on the airfield as well as some burned out SUVs to remind us that Saddam Hussein's air force once called this home.

As hard as I tried to concentrate on other things, I couldn't help being comforted by this concrete-hardened building, surrounded by T-Walls, which are very tall concrete walls with a wide base so they look like upside down Ts. At least I do not have to run outstide to a bunker because I could stay where I am and wait for the all-clear signal. Something compelled me to call over to Medical Operations and report that I was safe and unhurt. Being the only IG on site and the only staff officer from my unit that is based 350 km north in Balad, I am a literal Army of One so I have to take care of myself.

Finally, the all clear signal sounded and I sighed in relief. I was still unaware of where the Indirect Fire had hit or if anyone had sustained any injuries. Although it was my four week anniversary, the day had been a bad one for Camp Adder. Earlier this morning one of our convoys was hit by an IED and three soldiers had been badly hurt, and now this.