Iraq '09: The Artless War

I read a review of the movie "Stop Loss." In the article the author noted that the Iraq War has been an artless war, and that any and all attempts to portray the last 8 years (to include 9/11) have been dull and failing endevors. Music and film were both supplemented in part by the imagery and emotion of the Vietnam War, but I don't think the artistic surge in the late '60s was strictly dependent on the fact that a long and controversial war was going on. There was a lot happening during that period, nuclear science used for warfare, civil rights, assasinations, the space race, and covert communists real and imagined. The better and more artistic films about Vietnam didn't surface till the end of the '70's/early '80s (i.e. Full Metal Jacket, Apocolypse Now).

So, my point. Hmm, not sure. Just something to think about I guess. To expect so soon after recent events lasting productions of historical and artistic value may just be too much to expect, and is perhaps more so just another symptom of our society's need for instant gratification and a desire to relive the past, or in the case of younger generations like myself, revive the past. But try to imagine folk music being popular now days. Not likely, but it depends on what one means by "popular" and "folk." As for music, as an industry, as a whole, it has lost artful meaning in large portions in the last 29 years (MTV sucks) and the top 40 has become pure ephemeral slush.

I would say artfulness itself has gone way back into the shadows and hides from the too bright lights of entertainment. TV shows have taken "reality" and turned it inside out so many times that what we see resembles nothing real at all. The mystery and magic intrinsic to art would seem to be MIA. Perhaps quantified, packaged, retailed and liquidated before we in the new melennium ever knew what it was. I will expect that the natural intrinsic element that is the art and the magic in all of us can and will find the hearts, minds, and eventualy the hands of current and future generations as they need to reflect the human condition that is common and not just common place like the clowns on awards shows and their followers.

Today, just after my camera batteries died, I watched what seemed like thousands of children pour out of a school while I waited outside a station across the street. I hope and imagine that the possibilities of artistic representations as it relates to the world's current state and the conflicts of the middle east might find its way to those kids I saw and kids like them. For something good to come of war. But along with the conflicts here continues the situational oppression of a culture oversaturated with a singular traditional, and sometimes radical, mindset. Religion has historically inspired as much art as it has destroyed. Islam is to the middle east, what commercialism is to the west. It has become an unmarked beast that destroys as we consume. But...I'm going to stop there...I'm not sure where I'm going with this, and I'm sounding too preachy. Hopefully, "just something to think about." This entry/post is a bit of the old me, the wannabe poet coming out in manifest diary.

A Trip to Afeq

We took a trip east to Afeq today.





At first an optical illusion. I wasn't sure what I was looking at. This little girl looking comfortable while being carried on her mother's shoulder perhaps looks so strange to the eye because of the contrast in clothing.

Animals

PR Foot Patrol

Recently I went on foot patrol with a squad from my unit in a Diwaniya suburb. The objective was to show unity and cooperation with the local IPs. A public relations dismount...go figure. But that's where we're at in this war. We are at the point where soldiers act as diplomats and assistants to those about to take the reins of security and safety for their own communities.

A PSA billboard.

A billboard of a different kind, on the same street. A reminder of the past and the delicate balance.

A school girl glancing back.

One of our interpreters handing out candy. School was out and kids were everywhere. I don't know the census data, but it always seems like kids outnumber adults 3 to 1.


A man came up to us with a little girl, I'm assuming his daughter. She looked terrified of us. He was asking me to take her picture. I crouched down to her level and tried to make eye contact. I don't know what he had in mind. I guess having your child photographed at all is an rare opportunity. I'm still confused on what is expected of females at different ages in this part of Iraq.


Over the shoulder, literally and metaphorically, of everyone in the above photos is Shi'a Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. That's him in the upper right corner of the sign. Here in the southern areas of Iraq Shi'a is the predominant form of Islam. Shi'a are the most in-line with the Iranian brand of the religion.

Trading weapons and poses for photographs.

CNN: Shoddy Wiring Everywhere (on military installations) / My Photographs (Camp Echo)

The following is a new article at CNN.com. After reading it, I stepped outside and took a couple shots. All of the following photographs are mine and were not with the original article. I didn't have to go looking around for examples of shoddy wiring. All of these pictures were taken within 10 paces of my CHU, Contained Housing Unit.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Thousands of buildings at U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan have such poorly installed wiring that American troops face life-threatening risks, a top inspector for the Army says.

These wires installed in Iraq are some of the most important to ensure safety. They all need to be replaced.

"It was horrible -- some of the worst electrical work I've ever seen," said Jim Childs, a master electrician and the top civilian expert in an Army safety survey. Childs told CNN that "with the buildings the way they are, we're playing Russian roulette."


Childs recently returned from Iraq, where he is taking part in a yearlong review aimed at correcting electrical hazards on U.S. bases. He told CNN that thousands of buildings in Iraq and Afghanistan are so badly wired that troops are at serious risk of death or injury.

He said problems are "everywhere" in Iraq, where 18 U.S. troops have died by electrocution since 2003. All deaths occurred in different circumstances and different locations, but many happened on U.S. bases being managed by various military contractors. The Army has has reopened investigations in at least five cases, according to Pentagon sources.

Of the nearly 30,000 buildings the Army's "Task Force Safe" has examined so far, Childs said more than half "failed miserably." And 8,527 had such serious problems that inspectors gave them a "flash" warning, meaning repairs had to be completed in four hours or the facility evacuated.

He said the majority of those buildings were wired by contractor KBR, based in Houston, Texas. KBR has faced extensive criticism from Congress over its performance in the war zone. KBR has defended its performance and argued it was not to blame for any fatalities.
Military electrocutions became a national issue about a year ago, after the January 2008 death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A decorated member of the Army's Green Berets, Maseth was electrocuted in his shower at a U.S. base in Baghdad that once served as one of Saddam Hussein's palaces.

His death was blamed on improper grounding and dangerous wiring on his living quarters. Soon after that, the Army asked Childs to help create "Task Force Safe," a team of master electricians assigned to inspect Army posts for electrical dangers.

Childs said the "large majority" of the buildings the task force examined in Iraq had been wired by KBR, which he expected would follow American standards. But the results, he said, were "just horrible."

In one building, "I had them pull a switch out of the wall to look at a switch, and when they pulled it out of the wall, the wires fell out of it," Childs said. Thinking that was an exception, "We pulled the one next to it. They fell off," he said. "It was just very, very poor quality work."

Much of the work was done by crews from countries beyond Iraq, "with very little supervision by anybody." And many of the problems involved improperly grounded systems that allowed plumbing to conduct electricity, which he said could lead to electric shocks such as the one that killed Maseth.


Childs said service orders on at least two occasions warned of the hazard in Maseth's quarters, and "two simple electrical 101s" should have been checked out by electricians.

"A competent electrical contractor and electrician would have gone to that job site and tried to discover why pipes could have been energized," he said. If they had been, "then Ryan Maseth would not have been electrocuted, in my opinion."

Maseth's family is suing KBR. An Army investigator has recommended that his cause of death be changed to "negligent homicide," accusing the company of failing to properly supervise or inspect its work. The Army has yet to accept the recommendation.

KBR has repeatedly said it was not responsible for Maseth's death or for any of the others and defended its work.

"KBR has worked diligently to address electrical issues when asked," the company told CNN in a written statement. "What is important to remember is the challenging environment in which these issues exist.

"The electrical standards in Iraq are nowhere near those of Western or U.S. standards. Add to this the challenges that exist in a war zone. We have been and remain committed to fully cooperating with the government on this issue."

But Childs said the majority of buildings on U.S. bases were built and wired by KBR since the U.S. invasion.

"They installed the housing units, they installed the electrical, they installed the wiring. They installed it all. And it's wrong," he said. "It's all put in wrong."

KBR was not alone, however. He said the Army survey found problems with every contractor whose work it inspected.

Task Force Safe has yet to inspect another 70,000 buildings in Iraq and has just begun its review of bases in Afghanistan, where contractors have raised similar concerns. In written answers to questions from CNN, Pentagon spokesman Chris Isleib said, "We are correcting hazardous conditions every day."

"This is a huge undertaking but absolutely necessary for the life, health and safety of our service members and civilians," he said. "When we find a defect, we put in an emergency work order and take action immediately to protect the people working or living in those facilities."

But Childs told CNN he is surprised more Americans have not been hurt.

"All the potentials are there," he said. "It just hasn't happened."

Diwaniya Murals

Over the last 6 years ugly t-walls have gone up all over Iraq. Placed around areas needing extra protection, they make beautification efforts difficult. A solution has been painting hope themed murals on the grey view-blocking walls of concrete.

24 March: Dust Storm

A dust storm set in today. Not the first. Not the worst. Everything is cast in a brown-orange tint and Kashmir by Led Zeppelin plays in my head. Our unit has been here in country for over 9 months now. When we first arrived the "skies were red" for weeks. But these shots are all from today.

Truck: Old World

Truck: New World (self portrait)

Almost Invisible

Invisible

Taxi Not In Service

Boys And A Hood

"Objects May Appear..."

I've seen men holding hands, not unusual or gay here, just a cultural difference. I've seen women hold hands once or twice, or hold a child's hand, but these are the first male and female adults I've seen holding hands in Iraq. Perhaps a good thing that I missed their hands and they're faces are blurred. This act of public affection that we in America, perhaps take for granted, is apparently a taboo here.

I don't know what this says. The pictures are explanation enough. A billboard in downtown Diwaniya.

Old World, New World

I gave myself an assignment yesterday. I've been fairly disappointed with my shots of rural areas in Iraq, and the adobe-like mud brick structures that people live in, as they have for thousands of years. So here's yesterday...today.