Alaska to Iraq : Arriving in Baghdad

Alaska to Iraq

Daily News reporter Rich Mauer is on special assignment for six weeks to the McClatchy Newspapers Baghdad bureau. For Mauer, who has reported on politics, the oil industry, military and other topics in his 23 years at the Daily News, it is a return to a region he covered as a much younger free-lancer in 1981-2, including the civil war in Lebanon. In this blog, he'll provide snapshots from his reporting.

About me

Joshua Ferguson

I joined the Army in 1996 and my position is as a forward observer. My dad was in the Air Force and I'm the oldest of four with one brother and two sisters. My wife is Danielle, and we have three young children, J.J., 5 in June, Corinne, 3 in July, and little Madeline, 1 this month. My goal is to complete a full 20 years in the military, and then retire to become a teacher at the elementary or high school levels.

FEATURE STORY

New life & limbs

Read reporter George Bryson's account of how Ferguson ended up on his way back to Walter Reed.

Arriving in Baghdad

Posted by mauer

Posted: January 23, 2007 - 10:13 am

BAGHDAD, Jan. 23 — The passengers waiting to board Royal Jordanian flight 814 from Amman to Baghdad almost could've been awaiting a flight to Deadhorse. Lots of strong guys, a few official-looking people, lots of tattoos on muscular biceps. Among the 45 or so was one woman.

They called the flight nearly an hour late, about noon in Amman. We took a bus to a far corner of the tarmac where a white, unmarked plane was parked, a twin-engine Fokker F28-4000. Aside from the tail number, the only identifying feature on the jet was the name “Jessica” painted on the nose.

It was a good sign. My daughter’s name is Jessica.

“Ahh, Old Jessica,” a Brit behind me said as we walked up the steps.

It would be an hour and 20 minute flight. The captain, in a precise British accent, told us we’d be making the famed spiral descent. The corkscrew would lesson our exposure as a target.

As it turned out, it was more of an elongated figure eight, a series of tight turns, the first over the brown desert, the rest over farmlands irrigated through a complex series of channels from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

The flight was uneventful, “BIAP” — Baghdad International Airport — huge and practically deserted. I was met at the airport by several people from the bureau. The ride to the hotel was a trip past almost immeasurable tons of concrete — tall blast walls, traffic diverters, fences. Most drivers stayed on the correct side of the divided highway, but not everyone. As you’ve no doubt heard, it’s true that no one cares whether they go up an exit ramp or down an entry ramp. We didn’t care ourselves.

The Tigris flowed slowly. You could hear birds in the reeds on the far bank. Above them, the monstrously large new American embassy was rising behind the fences and walls of the Green Zone.

The boulevards were a semblance of normalcy. The neighborhood streets were another matter, definite no-go zones. In 30 minutes, we were at the bureau, my home for the next six weeks.

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12 August 30, 2009 - 7:49am | coder

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10 January 28, 2007 - 10:00pm | carrieh81

"To win a war is as disastrous as to lose one." -Agatha Christie

Thank you for being so brave as to risk your life to report to us back home of the happenings in Iraq. Please find it in your heart to speak the truth, and write with the intent on getting our troops home safe. You are in my thoughts. May peace be on your side. Thank you

9 January 27, 2007 - 6:22am | sigridida

My family`s heart belongs to

one of those brave Fort Richardson soldiers. God speed to you, to him, his unit, and to all of our brave sons and daughters. I eagerly look forward to your posts. Thank you for this. Do be safe.

8 January 25, 2007 - 9:03pm | lvusa65

Good luck

I am looking forward to reading your reports. This is the closest most of us will come to our troops, especially those close to our hearts. Please give the troops from Alaska a big thank you from my family. Good luck, God Bless, and may those who are tending to your safety be kept safe too.
The Van Natta family

January 26, 2007 - 1:05pm | mauer

Thanks...

Thanks for all the well wishes. I plan to embed with the Fort Rich soldiers in about a week or so. Hopefully I'll be able to send back some realistic observations about what life is like for them. Very sad about the situation in Karbala, though.

-- Rich

7 January 25, 2007 - 3:04am | ravensroost

You've arrived at a sad time

You've arrived at a sad time for us back home in Alaska, losing so many from Ft. Rich in one day. I'm sending you prayers that you'll be safe. Let our guys & gals over there know that even us flaming liberals are behind them 100%.

6 January 24, 2007 - 8:30pm | harborrose

Rich, just read your

Rich, just read your reports. I look forward to each day's new adventure story. We here don't really get life there, so thru your eyes maybe we will better understand. I am a transplanted Alaskan on south coast of Or. Be safe. The Rose

5 January 24, 2007 - 7:52pm | zipkin

Iraqi politicians

Rich, should the opportunity present itself, we'd be interested in reading your interview(s) of one or more of the current cabinet ministers willing to share some of their thoughts about our impending "surge."

In any event, please stay as safe as you can!

P.S. - since you won't need it, can I borrow your racquet over the next couple of months? (Just kidding!)

Gary

4 January 24, 2007 - 5:56pm | AkGov

What is the real story?

If possible, I would love to gain from your reporting a better understanding of what makes of these people tick. Why do they have such a difficult time coming together as one unified society and government?

Why is Iran, a unified government, made of basically the same kind of people not having the same problems were seeing reported about Iraq? And last but not least I would like your opinion or reports to settle the question, “Is the USA presence the problem or a solution?”

Good luck and looking forward to your reports.

January 27, 2007 - 8:01am | mauer

Real Story

All very good questions.

I hope that by the time I leave, in 5 1/2 weeks, I'll have added a bit to the understanding of the situation.

As an initial thought, I don't think you could say Iran, with its rich Persian history, has the same kinds of people as Arab Iraq, with perhaps even a longer history.

Iran doesn't have the long Sunni-Shia conflict. And when the Shah was overthrown, there wasn't the huge power vaccum like the one that opened here when we took out Saddam without a clear replacement. Whatever you may think about the Ayatollah Khomeini, he was a strong unifying figure for his country. Their regime change was brought on by Iranians, not Americans.

January 28, 2007 - 12:56am | sigridida

And therein lies the "key"

"Their regime change was brought on by Iranians, not Americans."

Thank you!

3 January 23, 2007 - 4:45pm | gcravez

rball

Hey Rich,

It's good to read your stuff. Be well, and your racquetball buddies are looking forward to your return in six weeks.

Glenn.

2 January 23, 2007 - 3:44pm | jenchiang

Richard — Stay safe over there and keep the posts coming. The family is all reading your blog! — Jen (White) Chiang

1 January 23, 2007 - 3:31pm | LutherH

what's it look like?

any chance for pictures of the place? or even the nose of the plane?

i sometimes think of the Daily Show when they have their correspondants stand in front of an obvious blue screen and talk about being ON LOCATION!! DUM DUM DUM!!!

good look Mr. Mauer, please be careful you're doing a great service to the people back home, but if it's not in protection of your family and loved ones, it's probably not worth dying over.

January 24, 2007 - 4:19am | mauer

Pictures

As you noticed, there are some pictures from Amman. Baghdad will be a difficult place to take pictures -- obviously American dudes like me stand out as it is, and if I pull out a camera, well, there may not be any blog items. I plan to embed with some of the guys from Fort Rich in a couple weeks, and that might lend itself to more photography.

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