Blogs from Iraq, Middle East - page 2

Letter No. 5: A look of hope, but no smiles or waves, from a teenage girl By David J. Jenkins, USU class of '98 December 20, 2004 · Hello everyone. Greetings from Baghdad . . . This morning we were out on a routine R&S (Recon and Surveillance) Patrol. This is when we drive around in circles for half the day until EVERYONE in Baghdad is aware of our existence. And, while we are out and about, we keep our eyes open for basic police-action type activity. We had just finished patrolling a neighborhood when we emerged onto a main thoroughfare. Traffic was piling up in both directions and there was a very large median divider to prevent cars from making a left turn; however, we needed to go left. So, we inched our way out ... read more

A quick video of travelling overland from Tabriz in Iran, through Iraqi Kurdistan to South-Eastern Turkey. Places include Urmia Salt Lake, North-Eastern Kurdistan, Erbil, Mardin, Savur and Diyarbakir. As ever, let me know what you think! Love Ross x ... read more

When the lofty Anu, King of the Anunnaki, and Bel, lord of heaven and earth, he who determines the destiny of the land, committed the rule of all mankind to Marduk, the chief son of Ea; when they made him great among the Igigi; when they pronounced the lofty name of Babylon; when they made it famous among the quarters of the world and in its midst established an everklasting kingdom whose foundations were firm as heaven and earth – at that time, Anu and Bel called me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, the worshiper of the gods, to cause justice to prevail in the land, to go forth like the Sun over the Black Head Race, to enlighten the land… These are the first lines of cuneiform trail known as the Code of Hammurabi, sixth king ... read more

Originally posted December 2, 2004 An Aggie's letter from Iraq: Homemade bombs at 0-dark-30 Editor's Note: David J. Jenkins is a 1998 graduate of Utah State University's English department. His current home of record is Moses Lake, Wash., but he is serving in Baghdad, Iraq, with the Oregon Army National Guard. Today he presents the first of an occasional series of letters from Iraq to his fellow Aggies. By David J. Jenkins, USU class of '98 December 2, 2004 � Hello everyone. Greetings from Baghdad . . . The advent... read more

By David J. Jenkins, USU class of '98 December 20, 2004 � Hello everyone. Greetings from Baghdad . . . Ramadan was coming to a close, and we were entering the last three days. These are known as the days of power. Command issued a warning and recommended that all soldiers wear all their protective gear, even while conducting routine business around the patrol base. These commands to gear up aren't always received with exhuberance, but are always followed to the letter. We received the order sometime in the afternoon. Our squad was scheduled for a "re-fit" day, and weren't required to go out on mission that day. One of our soldiers was here at the internet lab and I was off trying to locate a phone (since the phone building burned down), when the first ... read more