Iraq Day 5
Camp Lucent, Trailer 2
It’s Friday, our day off. Yesterday we went to the CCCI(Central Criminal Court of Iraq), outside the IZ. We met w/ the chief judge of the 1st panel, Judge L. The meeting was brief, and he spent most of it flirting w/ my female colleague. He did offer us food (Iraqi candy) and we (my colleage actually) offered him a token gift of a pen as well; both of these are consistent w/ standard Arab custom.
To get to CCCI we drove to the perimeter wall of the IZ, where there was a steel door guarded by a US Army SGT. He radioed to his counterpart in the bldg that were were coming, then opened the door. On the other side was a muddy field w/ concrete slabs set in the form of a path. We walked through the field, each in kevlar vest and helmet, past a couple of trailers w/ civilian contractors (!!!) and a few shallow fountains now dry and decayed.
The CCCI itself is a cone shaped building w/ a sphere at the top, where the remains of a clock are visible (hence the nickname, ‘Baghdad Clocktower’). The Iraqis say the pendulum of the clock used to swing through the building below. The building itself used to be a museum containing all of Saddam’s gifts, but it was looted after the invasion.
The building was fairly quiet, since they don’t have trials on Thursdays, but the Iraqis all stared as we walked through the buidling.
We had to pull out quickly as the Army guard was preparing to withdraw and seal the door for the day.
After we returned, the Iraqis had prepared for us a feast of Iraqi food. It included lamb w/ rice, roasted chicken, lamb hearts (!!!), kabobs, ‘salad’ (not salad in the Western since of the word; think macaroni w/o any sauce), homos, a tangy yogurt, enormous pita loaves, and delicious ‘baqlawa’, an Iraqi take on baclava.
Afterwards we spoke with M at length about the current situation in Iraq, how it was under Saddam, and his hopes for the future. Afterwards I reviewed the work U has been doing on the courts application. After that, I went back to the trailer to relax. I came down with a cold within two days of my arrival.