Subject: (No subject)
September 17, 2004 12:25 PM
Hello everybody,Greetings from Baghdad.

The weather here is hot and sunny.

My flight in was pretty cool; they come in hardand bank to avoid missiles.

Once you get to the airport it really sinks in how bad Saddam was here.

I had a 3 hour layover in Dubai and got the city tour.

The WHOLE city is under construction; and I mean the whole city. It is a vibrant and rich economy, with everybody driving a new rich-mans' car.

This is what is great about democracies like ours, everybody can make it. Now when you get to Baghdad (with more oil wealth than Dubai) all you see is decay and rot.

The infrastructure is destroyed from years of neglect; the airport terminals haven't been updated in 40 years, and the streets are wrecked (not from bombing).

The drive to the green zone is done in full body armor at high speed with a military escort every 3 vehicles.

The terrorists just throw grenades and take shots at every convoy that passes.

Contrary to the news reports, 90 percent or more of the Iraqis' love us being here.

I am in the green zone, which takes mortar attacks every night. But we are pretty well dug in so we are pretty safe.