Wednesday, January 26, 2011

From Russia with Love

Loving America

Published: 28 November, 2010, 03:28
Edited: 28 November, 2010, 03:33
In the television world, there is nothing worse than being in the right place at the wrong time, or for that matter the wrong place at the right time. Except for one thing: being in the right place at the right time with faulty tapes. I couldn't believe it. Neither could Alexey or Max or any of my editors in Moscow. We did a full day's filming, only to find out afterward that aside from some of the first interview, nothing else was recorded to tape. We had to return to one of the interviewees and he joked that we'd used Russian tapes. I pointed out that just the day before he'd been blaming the Americans for the poor state of his country today – after which he nodded, and we all agreed that they were "shitty American tapes."
There's an interesting dynamic going on over here. When the US forces first came in 2003, there was a lot of support for them against Saddam Hussein. Those who came with them are now seen as traitors and the question being asked is, will they leave with them or not?
Personally, I've left Iraq – but I have many impressions that I just haven't had a chance to put down.
I am so angry, I'll go backward. On the flight out I bumped into the same American guy who was sitting next to me in the plane on the way over. I asked him if his trip had been successful. He said he'd had to delay it by one day because the most important meeting he had come for could only be held on the day he was scheduled to leave. I asked him if it was worth it.
Condescendingly, patronizingly and sarcastically, he said: "Lady, if you knew the kind of money we're talking about here…." He was aiming for some kind of housing contract. Oh please, these guys make me sick!
When I was on the American base, the commander couldn't have been nicer and more genuine. He told me that it takes a special kind of person to join the military – and less than one percent of the US volunteers. They genuinely want to make a difference. I don't think it's true for all the soldiers. (Many I met – a lot to be honest – were quite unimpressive, not very educated. And there was some kind of internal racism – the black NATO forces were viewed as separate, i.e. the guys from Sierre Leone were kind of looked down upon.)
But this commander, I think he was genuine. The same, incidentally, last year with the commander in Kabul, Afghanistan. I don't know, maybe the commanders are a different breed from the average soldier – although some do stand out, like two engineers in Kabul. But really, the anger is about milking Iraq for all it's worth. Again, I'm reminded of the comments by some of the analysts I interviewed – that it's not really in the Americans interest to have the Iraqi forces fully trained up.
From the sky Iraq is very beautiful, a lot less foreboding than Afghanistan. How is it possible to so fully impose one’s will on another country? Viewed from that point of view, it's pretty impressive what the Americans have done!
We couldn't go more than a few hundred meters before being stopped by a roadblock. And we were not allowed to film on the streets at all. From that point of view, it was really difficult to work. And two bombs went off not far from us while we were out filming one morning. They were in front of the Defense Ministry, where we went a few hours later for an interview with the spokesperson there, who assured us everything was under control – and even if it wasn't quite under control, he said, they were at least trying their best!
Seems that if the Americans need an excuse to stay here longer – they have one!