Today was a day of great contrasts – a small taste of the kind of dangers that abound here, a look at the work being done to rebuild Iraq, and finally the privilege of an extended private interview with one of Iraq’s great hopes for the future: Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih.
Iraq Diary
By Mark Finkelstein | November 12, 2006 | 2:46 PM EST
By Mark Finkelstein | November 11, 2006 | 6:01 AM EST
Landed at the Balad base 40 miles north of Baghdad about 11 PM local time Friday night. Smooth ride but after we touched down the crew let us know that “the flaps had decoupled.” Not quite sure what that means but some things are better not to know until after you land. Quick stop by the media HQ where at midnight two airmen, in honor of Veterans’ Day, marched back and forth in front of a memorial to veterans, a displ
By Mark Finkelstein | November 10, 2006 | 3:20 AM EST
I’m writing this from the passenger deck of a C-5 somewhere out over the Atlantic, heading toward Rota, Spain.
By Mark Finkelstein | November 8, 2006 | 10:20 PM EST
Three flights and 11 hours after leaving Ithaca I made it to our rendezvous spot in Charleston, SC, the Sheraton North, and met two of my three team members: Navy Lt. Corey Schultz of CENTCOM, who did an absolutely wonderful job organizing the trip stateside and who will now accompany us to and around Iraq, and Dave Kelso, classic rock DJ extraordinaire at KRXO in Oklahoma City.
By Mark Finkelstein | November 8, 2006 | 2:13 PM EST
Although not as bumpy as the road the GOP encountered last night, I've hit some turbulence on the first day of my Iraq trip. With weather socked in on the East Coast, my US Airways flight out of our little Ithaca airport was cancelled. A quick phone call later I was on the road to Syracuse. For my sins I decided to listen to Air America all the way - the Stephanie Miller Show as it turned out. They spoke of being in "full gloat mode," and that was no overstatement.