I spent several hours with one of our staff just returned from Iraq and got the following, really awful story from him. It appears that electricity is an on and off again matter in Baghdad. Also, note that it is very hot in Iraq this time of year. What does this have to do with anything? Just this. A GI gets killed here. Shot by an Arab. He lies around until someone can pick up the body and transport it to the centralized mortuary. Where it lies around until the corpse, or pieces of it, are identified. Then it does not go into a refrigerated area because there really isn’t one. The body goes into a rubber body bag and from that, into a steel military coffin which is neatly sealed shut. By this time, the occupant is pretty well gone off. My colleague tells me, and I hate to even think about it, that according to GI staff members, very often no one really knows what corpse is in what coffin. These are taken out to the Baghdad airport, put into unrefrigerated storage areas for shipment back to Dover. By the time the dead arrive in the States, they are very long gone and the coffins are shipped directly to the local mortuary where the deceased lived. Of course stateside, they are kept in the coolers but by that time, it is past necessity. Local morticians are given official strong suggestions that they not open the coffins and in most cases, they do not. In one case I was told of, the family wanted to put keepsakes in with their son and husband but when the box was opened, two of them fainted, the stench was so bad. It later turned out that instead of a Caucasian son, they had an African-American daughter to bury! The government apologized to the livid parents and will cut them a check. The family was told the U.S. military had no idea where their son and husband actually ended up. One of our sick editors asked his man from Baghdad if he got any pictures! Some people have no taste and I hope you are reading this!
No one with more than a 10 IQ believes that we have won in Iraq. We set up a government of handpicked Quislings (most of whom are being paid by the CIA) that are hated by the average Iraqi and the resistance is growing more proficient and worse every day. Senior officers are of the opinion that we ought to get out while we still can. It’s the general feeling that the sacred mosque under siege is going to be blown up, either by them on purpose or us by stupid accident. If and when that happens, holy hell will break loose amongst the Shiites and anti-US activity will really take off.
No one with more than a 10 IQ believes that we have won in Iraq. We set up a government of handpicked Quislings (most of whom are being paid by the CIA) that are hated by the average Iraqi and the resistance is growing more proficient and worse every day. Senior officers are of the opinion that we ought to get out while we still can. It’s the general feeling that the sacred mosque under siege is going to be blown up, either by them on purpose or us by stupid accident. If and when that happens, holy hell will break loose amongst the Shiites and anti-US activity will really take off.