******IRAQ Explosion Part 1*****

Day 29 - June 30, 2012

Iraq Day 1

IRAQ, what more is there to say. The country has been blasted all over international headlines since the U.S. led invasion in 2003, and for that matter, since the Iran - Iraq war that lasted the entirety of the 1980's, as well as the first Gulf war in the early 1990's. During the few years of "peace" in between, the country was ravaged by a ruthless dictator whose tyranny against his own people is known the world over. As such, it has been more than 30 years since this land has seen stability; and, it seems everyone already knows everything they need or want to know about the country. It is a war torn, inhospitable place, plagued by violence, and hostile, intolerant people, and there is certainly no reason for a visit. For those who believe this, stop here, as the rest of what I say won't make sense to you. Iraq has another story, "The other Iraq", as it is commonly referred, has a story to tell as well. And the message has nothing to do with mortars, IED's, suicide bombings, green zones, armed militants, or an American/British military presence. True, Kurdastani Iraq has seen its fair share of the above, as well as genocidal massacres from the aformentioned Tyrant. But today, much has changed, these are generous, peaceful people who seek the same freedom and happiness in life that we are all too familiar with in the West. The people on this planet are not as different as we like to make them out to be.

I flew in from Beirut today, arriving in the largest city in Kurdistan, Arbil (Erbil), which boasts a population of over one million residents. From the window of the plane I could see desert plains as far as my eyes could reach. Although this is the setting most people would expect all of Iraq to look like, Kurdistan is also marked with gorgeous mountainous landscapes, which I will be traveling to in the coming days.

I spent my first hour in Iraq doing exactly what I always try to avoid when I enter a new country. My grand plan to plan nothing on this trip (I had only booked my flight to Iraq hours earlier) backfired slightly this afternoon. Every hotel was booked solid, so, I tramped through the crowded streets from hotel to hotel, slugging my pack through the heat. Although extremely hot, the humidity is non existent due to the desert conditions, and I didn't even break a sweat. I survived the ordeal after visiting a dozen plus locations, and settled into a hotel that bears no name (at least in English that is), but does have air conditioning and four grainy television channels.

It is no secret how the Kurds stay cool here. There are probably more ice cream and fresh juice smoothie stands per sq kilometer in Arbil than there are people in NYC. Although this is a slight exaggeration, you get the point, and so did I, as I stopped every few minutes to fill my stomach with sweet goodness that made the heat tolerable. I spent the remainder of the evening wandering the markets and bazaars, which are said to be some of the oldest on the planet. My own personal, unarmed Iraqi invasion began today, and I am excitedly looking forward to all that I will see and learn on the road ahead. Let's Go!

Day 30 - July 1, 2012

Iraq Day 2

I traveled to Sulaymaniyah this morning, several hours south of Arbil, and closer to infamous Baghdad, although I have no intentions of stepping foot in areas not controlled by Kurdastani Peshmerga (more on them later). I had to take a shared taxi along back roads, through the small town of Koya, to avoid the main road which leaves the Autonomous Kurdish Region, and passes through the ever violent Kirkuk, which many may be familiar with from the news as an insurgent stronghold and hotbed of violence (although the situation has improved greatly, it is still considered very dangerous for foreigners).

Sometimes friends are found in the most unexpected places. Akar is a young Kurdish man of 22 years. His father is the owner of the hotel I checked in on arrival to Sulaymaniyah. He speaks four languages, Kurdish, Arabic, Japanese, and thankfully for me, English. The latter two he attributes to his love of animation. I must say, if cartoons are that effective at teaching languages, it is probably something we should consider implementing in the U.S.; after all, our kids watch 25 hours of TV a day, so we may as well put it to good use?

Despite being a self proclaimed, and perhaps justifiably, a "racist" (more on that later), Akar is a nice kid. He immediately took a liking to me. It was probably that American thing, since we are loved everywhere, ha! Actually, many Kurds do favor Americans as they view George Bush Jr. as their liberator - yes, the man did some good. In our first hour together, his kindness and generosity was apparent; he allowed me free use of his cell phone, escorted me to a decent place for lunch, and walked me through the bazaar, allowing me to sample sweets from his friends shops (at no charge), and benefiting me with the "friend" price at two bootleg DVD shops, at which I purchased 11 titles. The quality of these are yet to be seen, but at just under $10 total, I guess It's worth taking on the investors risk. He also invited me to hang out this evening to watch the Euro Cup final pitting the favored Spanish team vs the upstart Italians. Since finding company to join me to watch this game was my only main goal today, I guess it has been a mission accomplished already.

Now might be a good time to talk briefly about an interesting subject. Akar mentioned to me that he is a racist, towards Arabs. I immediately understood what he was talking about, but many out there might not make sense of this. How can someone be racist towards his own kind; after all, everyone in the Middle East is an Arab, Muslim, and hater of the West and Christians, right? Wrong on all accounts, sorry.

As we learned in Lebanon, half of the population being Christian, not everyone in the Middle East is Muslim. As for haters of Christians, most Muslims are actually tolerant of Jews and Christians (much more so than the other way around), as they accept the holy books of the two religions (Old and New Testament), and incorporate its teachings and traditions into their own holy scriptures, the 'suras' (stories), contained within the Quran. Given their shared heritage, Muslims have mutual respect for "ahl al-kitab", or, the people of the book. In fact, before 1948, the year Israel declared Independence, there were predominately Jewish settlements scattered throughout the Middle East, where they lived in relative peace and free from persecution (as compared to the treatment they received in Europe around that time). The main cause of modern day tensions between Israel and the rest of the Middle East has more to do with land disputes, politics, and a series of Arab - Israeli Wars over land and politics, rather than any religious or heritage differences (although for some, religion certainly has its role).

Now, as for Akar hating Arabs, what's all this about? Akar is a Kurd, and despite popular belief, there is a difference. In fact, the Middle East is made up of a variety of ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Israelis, Persians (Iran), and Turks (Turkey). The reasons for these differences, and the origin of the Arabs is long winded, but an understanding of these histories would go a long way in the West' understanding, perception, and perhaps tolerance of the people of the Orient. Maybe we should study these subjects more in school, rather than memorizing the succession of American Presidents, or the lineage of European Kings?? Something to think about.

So why does Akar, the Kurd, hate Arabs? Although he didn't say, I imagine it has a lot to do with Arab treatment towards the Kurds (more on this later), most notably that from the foolhardy dictator whose reign ended in 2003, and whose life concluded at the end of a rope in 2006.

So here I am in Kurdistani Iraq. Why? Because it is not like the country portrayed all over the news. This is "The Other Iraq", one of the safest areas in the Middle East, filled with warm, friendly people who want nothing more than to move forward from their turbulent past and serve a better life for themselves and their families, and I am here to witness it first hand and provide my account.

By the way, Spain trounced Italy 4-0 in the Euro Cup Final, continuing their recent dominance of the sport. I look forward to seeing how they fare in the World Cup in Brazil in two years. Take a wild guess where I'll be in two years?! My new friend Akar, and the three others he introduced me to, continued their kindness towards me, as I was not allowed to pay for any of the items I ordered at the cafe, nor for my taxi ride home.

Day 31 - July 2, 2012
Iraq Day 3 - Sulaymaniyah

It is often wondered why America and other developed countries get involved in the civil conflicts of other nations. "It's their stupid country", "let them deal with it", and, "what do we care", are but a few of the phrases that get tossed around. This is why, because left unattended, small civil conflicts escalate into full blown genocidal massacres, only after which everyone asks, "why didn't someone step in and do something"? See Nazi Germany, Pol Pots Khmer Rouge, and Sadamm's actions against the Kurds for exhibits A, B, and C, just to name a few. Hindsight is a pain in the ass isn't it? And sure, usually the people suffering are not our family, nor our friends, and perhaps six degrees of separation couldn't connect us; so maybe it doesn't affect us, and therefore it doesn't matter. But it should! These people have families, they have friends, they have relationships, they are brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, grandparents, and they have feelings and emotions; they are just like us, yet born under different circumstances, and in different countries. We are all the people of the planet, and should be afforded the same rights to, at a minimum, be allowed to live a peaceful life, free from persecution and injustice. One's country of origin should not dictate whether he or she has the right to live without fear of death or imprisonment around every corner.

During the years of 1988-1991, Saddam's brutal regime undertook a Hitleresque campaign to eradicate the Kurds from the northern region of Iraq. In the closing months of the Iran - Iraq war, Saddam launched the Al - Anfal campaign ("the spoils of war"), as it was called, in response to the Kurds siding with Iran in 1988 towards the end of the war. During the brutal actions that followed, 4,500 Kurdish villages, and 182,000 innocent Kurds were murdered. Humanitarian watch groups labeled it an act of genocide.

I visited the Amna Suraka prison in downtown Sulaymaniyah, which was notorious for its violence and unthinkable horrors. Prisoners were electrocuted, beaten, the soles of their feet whipped, they were starved, placed in confinement for years, and often times, perhaps mercifully, murdered. It is hard to imagine the pain the prisoners (most of which had committed no crimes) and their families must have experienced during those times. In 1991, after suffering three years of frequent massacres, the Kurdish uprising began all across the region, the UN implemented a no fly zone to protect them from Saddam, and the fortunes of the Kurds began to turn. Amna Suraka was razed by the locals, and all the prisoners were liberated. Today, the prison still looks the way it did the day after liberation, the facade marked with bullet holes and mortar shells from the firefight between the Kurds and Saddam's Iraqi Guard.

This was a troubling day for me. When I travel, I make an attempt to immerse myself in the history of a region, and try imagining how the people are, or where, and what it would have felt like to be them. I try to put myself in their place as if I were born in their shoes. It was hard to wrap my head around all the horror, and I finished the day exhausted and mentally drained, I skipped dinner and went off to bed early.

Day 33 - July 4th, 2012
Iraq Day 5

I am on my 5th day In Kurdastani Iraq, and so far, the experience has been great. I have found a majority of the people (or at least the ones I can talk to since my Kurdish and Arabic is non-existent) to be welcoming, sincere, and helpful. I have been hanging out with Akar, and his group of friends, including his girlfrend Nian, who unfortunately doesnt speak any English, although as a news correspondent for one of the Kurdish news channels, she lives a very interesting life that takes her abroad regularly. Akar has shown me all around town, taking me to nice cafes for dinner and Futbol, and to local, back alley spots for lunch, sweets, and sheesha . He has been very generous, continuing to pay for much of the things we do together, despite my insistence I be allowed to pay. His hospitality is genuine, and he has proved to be a blessing on my time in Kurdistan. I feel very fortunate in my travels to always be led to those I enjoy spending time with, and who have my best interest at heart, and vice versa. Meeting Akar has certainly affected in a positive light the way I view Kurds, and has caused me to continually extend my stay in Sulaymaniyah, when I would have likely left otherwise, days ago.

So far, I have noticed a difference between people's reactions from when they meet me, to the moment they learn I am an American (since when they first meet me, it is not obvious I'm from the West) Yes, despite advice from other Americans to shun my Nationality when abroad, I don't hesitate to identify myself when inquired (if I deem the situation safe to do so). In fact, in recent memory, I have only denied my Nation once, and this was to the man in Baalbek, Lebanon who was trying to sell me a Hezbollah t-shirt (in the stronghold city of Hezbollah). Although even this was likely unwarranted, I played my cards safe, as I still had twenty hours remaining in Baalbek, and I would have been an easy target if extremists had wanted to make a statement (although again, this was very unlikely).

Since Americans are so loved in this part of Iraq, and since I look more Kurdish at the moment (or Turkish, Arabic, Persian, or Pakistani to mention a a few), I have decided it is almost time, and the days of my beard are numbered. Akar even translated for me at a lunch spot, that the guy serving us food spoke to me in Kurdish saying, "hey bearded guy, what do you eat?" A majority of the Kurds have freshly shaven faces, preferring a clean cut look rather than the scraggy, bearded look that Westerns perceive them to have, and which I currently possess. Soon enough though, forty plus days of glory will be removed from my face, my travel beard will be gone, and I will return to my usual "Western" look.

!July 4th 2012, 9:48am!

I had just completed writing the above statement when I arrived in the city of Halabjab, some 65 kilometers south of Sulaymaniyah. I had come to the city to explore the site, and monument, of where the heinous dictator committed a vile act that came to epitomize his ruthless regime, and would give credit to the U.S.' claims of weapons of mass destruction more than a decade and a half later. On March 18, 1988, to kick off the Al-Anfal campaign, Iraqi jets dropped biochemical weapons on the innocent population of Halabjab, and in less than 30 minutes, over 5,000 men, women, and children were left dead. This was, and still is, a sad day in Kurdish history, and unfortunately, they would see three more years of barbaric suppression before any reprieve was to be found.

Although my face my look Middle Eastern, when I am wearing shorts, an "I dig the pig" t-shirt, and carrying a pack to go hiking in Ahmadawa, which I had plans for later in the day, I stick out like any other foreigner. **On a side note, Ahmadawa is the same city three Americans set off from before being arrested by encroaching Iranian forces several years ago. The story made international headlines until former Heads of State helped secure their release. I did not have plans to take their route, instead, a more modest path to a large waterfall well within known Kurdish borders.** Anyway, set for this hike later in the day, I arrived in Halabjab. I had not been in the city more than five minutes when a Peshmerga (Kurdish security) agent stopped me and asked for my identification. This is when I realized I had made a crucial travel mistake, I had no identification on me!

The Peshmerga force is largely accredited with bringing safety and security to the Kurdistan Autonomous Region in Iraq. As compared to the volatile situation in the south that makes daily headlines, it is their presence that has brought stability to the area and quelled the violence, and, it is because of them that I can safely, confidently make my visit. However, it is also their scrutinizing eye of foreigners, which rightfully so, created the questioning that led to me being detained this morning!!

I was escorted from the streets to a guarded military building housing the local Peshmerga unit. My bag was confiscated and searched, and I was led to a back room where a group of officials had congregated. Sitting at a small wooden table was a small man, outfitted oddly in brown fatigues and sporting a light brown, U.S. Army short sleeve short, bearing the Stars and Stripes. This brought a smile to my face, as today is the 4th of July, Americas day of Independence, and I am a LONG way from home.

Despite my situation, I was at ease. The whole scene was a lot more enjoyable than the two other times I have been detained abroad, in Russia and Latvia (these are stories for another time). It took about an hour for the formalities to take their course. A series of calls were made to who knows who, and I even provided my local contacts, Nian and Farhan (Nian's friend who I was to meet on arrival in Halabjab), who, being TV personalities, I figured could only benefit my situation. Overall, I took the situation in with amusement and excitement. Perhaps fear, or at least apprehension and anxiety would have been a more appropriate reaction, but alas, I sometimes have trouble managing my emotions, so, there I was, amused, smiling inwardly at the predicament I had placed myself in. It was just another bump on the open road, but it made me glad I came. A valuable lesson was learned, and I don't intend to repeat this folly, my passport stays in my pocket from now on in Kurdistan. I was released from detention, my bag returned, and I was sent back to Sulaymaniyah, no monuments viewed, and no hiking performed. The official and I left on good terms, he was actually very nice and pleasant, we shook hands and I was escorted back to the shared taxi garage where I had come from, and off I went.

On my return to Sulaymaniyah, Akar was waiting. We went out for lunch and sheesha, and had a good laugh at the situation. Good times, really! I am starting to warm up to this place, figuratively with the generosity of the people, and literally, since it is hot as hell here!! I can't wait to see what the next week in Iraqi Kurdistan has in store for me. Let's Go!!