WARNING ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF THIS POST!

I wanted to write about some of the “differences” that have jumped out at me lately. What I am referring to is the state of living here in Iraq. I don’t know if it these are isolated to the area that I am in or what, but some places just seem terrible, absolutely intolerable. I know that our military action resulted in the destruction of many structures and probably much life here. The absence of a government likely exacerbates the conditions, if not being the actual cause, creating the environment for the dilapidation to occur. The war too, surely contributed to the generally destroyed look of the city. Our occupation of the area is evident when looking around and seeing Constantina wire everywhere and jersey barriers blocking off roadways and redirecting traffic. But it also seems as though much of the city is abandoned. None of the damaged structures are being repaired. No effort of any kind exists to repair roads or bridges, or anything at all for that matter. No real effort to do anything about the conditions exists in reality. The U.S. military is the only constructive force acting in this area at least, and I have neither seen nor heard anything to lead me to believe it is much different anywhere else, except for Baghdad and possibly Mosul. I guess I am just at a loss to try to understand what it must be like to live in this country. What would drive the level of apathy and abandon that is evident here. I originally wanted to write this blog about this one area of the city, the butchery. It is a prime example of what I am talking about. Right in the heart of the business district, about 2 blocks from a group of machine shops and garages, there is a stretch of road apparently dedicated to animal slaughter. As you drive along this road the smell overwhelms you. Rotting, fetid, putrid, disgusting, vile, piles of entrails, carcasses and unidentifiable carrion line the roadway. Bloated stomachs and intestines lay strewn across sidewalks where flea and mite infested chickens peck and eat from the piles. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of flies swarm everywhere. Pools and slow moving streams of thick blood drool towards the gutter, where the emptied bowels of some tens of slaughtered animals soak it in and allow it to congeal, mixing with a smattering of water, oil and gasoline. Semi-dried patches of blood seem to attract the flies the most; however, anyone close enough to see or smell the area is not immune to being swarmed by hundreds of flies. The flies land on your face and crawl across your lips and nose as you try desperately not to think about where else they have been; especially later when a patch on your lip seems to itch and burn. If your gaze wanders upwards in an attempt to avoid the view below you notice the awning above the sidewalk. Weighed down to the point of bowing, the sections of pressed sheet metal provide the final resting place of dozens and dozens of carcasses. Every stage of decay is represented along the stretch of awning above the “butchers’ row”. Bleached white skeletons, twisted spinal cords, leathered jaw bones, and brittle yellowing horns clutter the roof line. A recent addition, no more than a week old, a wilting goat head stares back at you through the haze of flies feeding/breeding on/in it. The several times that we have had the unfortunate experience of responding to a call in this area, we always leave dumbfounded. Especially as we pull off and watch as a 4 year old boy plays with a stick about 5 feet from one of the piles, watched closely by a group of men sitting on folding chairs amidst the sweltering heat and wafting fumes. It’s truly unbelievable. I crack a joke about whether SGT J thinks they do Kosher butchery on request or not as we drive off, trying to avoid really actually thinking about any of it. Later though, the thoughts are inevitable as the images and scents play in our minds and haunt us. People actually get their meat from there. Why don’t those men get a hose, or a bucket of water and wash down the sidewalk? It isn’t something that I am able to understand, nor do I really want to comment on it. I only thought it might make for an interesting tid-bit about our experience over here. The reality is that there are many other areas with similar problems. The only difference is that this area is contaminated with primarily animal waste, where most other areas are filled with an assortment of junk and animal, vegetable and human waste. The entire city is plagued with a lack of waste removal of any kind that I can tell. Piles of trash, stinking and composting in the heat, are strewn across nearly every stretch of road and fields sandwiched between the piles of rubble and old IED holes. The only reprieve from the accumulation of trash and the ultimate final transformation from city to trash dump are the burn pits. Actually that is a bit of a misnomer as there really aren’t pits, just piles of burning trash. The stench is again unbelievable; however, it is welcomed compared to the other, fouler things we could be smelling. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t really like to contemplate this stuff very often, nor would I venture to comment on it. It is hard to see all of this and not feel bad for the people who live amidst such conditions. Amazingly, I think to myself, this isn’t even bad compared to what some endure elsewhere. In any case I only hope that what we are doing here can turn some of this around for the people of this area, and the rest of the country. So what is the moral of the story then? I don’t know… just don’t let me catch any of you littering when I get home! Alright, till next time.