Totten: Baghdad in Fragments

World • Views: 1,823

Another terrific report from Iraq by Michael J. Totten: Baghdad in Fragments.

Many third world cities look better at night than during the day. Darkness hides shabbiness. You have to imagine what the city actually looks like. If you live in a first world city yourself, you might fill in the blanks with what you’re familiar with. It’s only during the day that you can see just how run-down the place really is.

Baghdad isn’t like that. Baghdad looks worse at night because you can barely see anything. When your mind fills in the blanks, real and imagined roadside bombs, militiamen, booby traps, and snipers lurk in the shadows.

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58 comments
1 Joo-LiZ  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:44:46am

Totten always manages to bring the feel of the Middle East to his readers in a way few other writer’s can.

Kudos to Totten, as always.

2 FurryOldGuyJeans  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:45:01am

And O wants to make it worse by abandoning the Iraqis as we did to the S. Vietnamese.

3 LGoPs  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:45:23am

Totten is Hotten……

4 OldLineTexan  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:47:44am

re: #2 FurryOldGuyJeans

And O wants to make it worse by abandoning the Iraqis as we did to the S. Vietnamese.

But first, he’s sending 4,000 advisors to Afghanistan.

The One can’t decide if he wants to be Kennedy, Johnson, or Nixon.

5 smokefire  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:48:05am

re: #2 FurryOldGuyJeans

And O wants to make it worse by abandoning the Iraqis as we did to the S. Vietnamese.

Next picture will be the helicopters on the rooftops

6 davinvalkri  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:48:08am

Damn he’s right. Baghdad is creepy at night. They need more streetlights or something. But Go, Totten for bringing us ground level views that nobody else in the media will!

7 Kosh's Shadow  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:48:48am

To give this a musical soundtrack:
“The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I’m getting used to it now”

Youtube Video
8 Kosh's Shadow  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:49:11am

re: #2 FurryOldGuyJeans

And O wants to make it worse by abandoning the Iraqis as we did to the S. Vietnamese.

While he sucks up to their enemies, and ours, the Iranians.

9 smokefire  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:49:58am

Rush is hammering Hilary and her “outreach” to the North Korean’s.

If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny.
Hilary is no diplomat.

10 Kosh's Shadow  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:51:16am

re: #4 OldLineTexan

But first, he’s sending 4,000 advisors to Afghanistan.

The One can’t decide if he wants to be Kennedy, Johnson, or Nixon.

Or Mao.

11 davinvalkri  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:51:22am

re: #5 smokefire

Next picture will be the helicopters on the rooftops

Oh god, no. I remember those pictures, and my mom probably remembers what it was like on the ground. Thank god she got out; her family was pretty prosperous, it would not have ended well.
And Obama wants to leave and probably condemn all those people who can’t get a helicopter (no boat option in Iraq) out?

12 madisonsfriend  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:53:54am

[Link: news.yahoo.com…]

So 48 people were killed at a mosque in Pakistan by a suicide bomber. Who do you think did it- and why? I mean I know the root cause of all Islamic Terrorism is Israel and Jews so probably it is my fault.

13 MrSilverDragon  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:53:56am

re: #4 OldLineTexan

But first, he’s sending 4,000 advisors to Afghanistan.

The One can’t decide if he wants to be Kennedy, Johnson, or Nixon.

Obama was clearly not a Boy Scout in his younger days. We were always taught to leave something better than we found it.

14 quickjustice  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:54:17am

We won in Iraq. Will Obama now dismantle that victory?

15 StillAMarine  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:57:49am

Trust me, the Zero seems to want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Then he will accept all the criminals and other misfits from the Middle East as Carter did with Cuba.
In only a few months, I daresay, the Zero has done almost as much damage as Carter did in four years.

16 gruvin  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 9:59:13am

Photo of Cindy SHeehan acting as a human “shield”?

17 Kosh's Shadow  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:00:27am

re: #16 gruvin

Photo of Cindy SHeehan acting as a human “shield”?

You should also put quotes around “human”.

18 Raven1  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:00:53am

The zero should go out with those servicemen like Totten did. Maybe he would learn something. Nah, he wouldn’t.

19 [deleted]  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:02:58am
20 Kosh's Shadow  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:03:28am

re: #19 buzzsawmonkey

He would do himself, us, the troops, and Iraq a favor if he simply read Totten’s reportage.

Somebody, please put it on his teleprompter.

21 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:04:10am

Totten is the reason that I both continue to blog and why I’ve pondered giving up my coverage on the ME. He’s the guy I strive to write like with probing details and analysis, and yet he’s got the first-hand accounts and contacts in places I could only wish to obtain despite my years of study on the region. Kudos on his latest.

22 DaddyG  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:04:13am

Dear FUBAROTUS

Here is yet another reason the US should do everything within our power to remain a world superpower.

This world community BS is just like begging to be ruled by con-men, dictators and thugs.

23 pat  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:04:49am

I am still in shock that Obama called the Fargo flooding a result of global warming. It has been widely reported that an ice dam broke, releasing water from an unprecedented snow fall. Is this ignorance or a lie?

24 realwest  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:05:02am

Michael Totten is a true JOURNALIST. He goes out and finds facts and reports facts. That he is able to do so with such grace and style is merely a testimony to his abilities as a writer.
It’s a damn shame that he is still “self-financed” by his readers.

25 [deleted]  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:05:02am
26 DaddyG  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:05:24am

re: #23 pat

I am still in shock that Obama called the Fargo flooding a result of global warming. It has been widely reported that an ice dam broke, releasing water from an unprecedented snow fall. Is this ignorance or a lie?

C. All of the above

27 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:06:21am

re: #23 pat

I am still in shock that Obama called the Fargo flooding a result of global warming. It has been widely reported that an ice dam broke, releasing water from an unprecedented snow fall. Is this ignorance or a lie?

History is written by the winners… and Obama won.. /

28 Dustyvet  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:06:26am

Fearmongering President Asserts AQ is “Planning Future Attacks”

CHANGE…er…SAME THING BUSH WOULD HAVE SAID!

He [Obama] said multiple intelligence estimates had warned that al Qaeda was actively planning attacks on the United States from safe havens in the mountainous border regions of Pakistan.

“For the American people, this border region has become the most dangerous place in the world,” he said.

Then why don’t you go bomb it out of existence, smart guy? You know where they are, it seems. Start launching missiles and exterminate them. You’re Constitutionally obligated to protect the American people from this threat - so get to it.

You’re not just all talk, are you? Any time now.


[Link: mypetjawa.mu.nu…]

29 VegasRick  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:06:55am

re: #8 Kosh’s Shadow

While he sucks up to their enemies, and ours, the Iranians.

30 LGoPs  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:07:01am

re: #19 buzzsawmonkey

He would do himself, us, the troops, and Iraq a favor if he simply read Totten’s reportage.

He’s busy getting ready for his next campaign appearance. Don’t you understand that? Sheesh.
/

31 realwest  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:07:43am

re: #21 lawhawk Hey lawhawk - please DON’T give up your work on the ME.
Your blog is one of three that I read everyday (even if I only comment once in a while!). You cover the real news the way Totten does, you just can’t afford to go and do the way he does. But your reporting and analysis is still heads and shoulders above the MSM and most other blogs around.

32 LindaMarie  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:08:31am

re: #12 madisonsfriend

[Link: news.yahoo.com…]

So 48 people were killed at a mosque in Pakistan by a suicide bomber. Who do you think did it- and why? I mean I know the root cause of all Islamic Terrorism is Israel and Jews so probably it is my fault.


Wnat - the root cause it Isreal and Jews?
The root cause is the domination of Islam.

I am, for now, assuming you really did not mean to write that the way it came out.

33 DaddyG  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:08:41am

re: #28 Dustyvet

Fearmongering President Asserts AQ is “Planning Future Attacks”

CHANGE…er…SAME THING BUSH WOULD HAVE SAID!

He [Obama] said multiple intelligence estimates had warned that al Qaeda was actively planning attacks on the United States from safe havens in the mountainous border regions of Pakistan.

“For the American people, this border region has become the most dangerous place in the world,” he said.

Then why don’t you go bomb it out of existence, smart guy? You know where they are, it seems. Start launching missiles and exterminate them. You’re Constitutionally obligated to protect the American people from this threat - so get to it.

You’re not just all talk, are you? Any time now.


[Link: mypetjawa.mu.nu…]

We can make the region more secure by creating a natural barrier between Pakistan and Afganistan. What is the half life of U238 anyway?

//

34 MandyManners  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:08:58am

re: #23 pat

I am still in shock that Obama called the Fargo flooding a result of global warming. It has been widely reported that an ice dam broke, releasing water from an unprecedented snow fall. Is this ignorance or a lie?

Leave it to that big-eared prick to make political hay out of a natural disaster.

35 Wyatt Earp  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:10:03am

re: #30 LGoPs

He’s busy getting ready for his next campaign appearance. Don’t you understand that? Sheesh.
/

And The Teleprompter hasn’t directed him to Totten yet.

36 rawmuse  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:10:20am

Last time I looked, Iraq had more liquidity than we do.
Spruce the place up, instead of building palaces.

37 madisonsfriend  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:10:24am

re: #32 LindaMarie

So I guess you don’t understand sarcasm

38 LGoPs  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:10:44am

re: #34 MandyManners

Leave it to that big-eared prick to make political hay out of a natural disaster.

I’ts what Democrats Communists do. Never let a good crisis go to waste…….

39 realwest  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:11:06am

re: #23 pat Well if Obama said it, the smart money would say it’s a lie.

40 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:11:23am

re: #31 realwest

Hey lawhawk - please DON’T give up your work on the ME.
Your blog is one of three that I read everyday (even if I only comment once in a while!). You cover the real news the way Totten does, you just can’t afford to go and do the way he does. But your reporting and analysis is still heads and shoulders above the MSM and most other blogs around.

Thanks, but for the most part, I’m relying on the reporting of others to provide analysis. My obligations here at home don’t let me go and report first-hand, but I’ll continue doing the analysis, if only because the regular media just doesn’t get it.

41 LGoPs  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:12:28am

re: #35 Wyatt Earp

And The Teleprompter hasn’t directed him to Totten yet.

How are you my friend? I know you’re in Philly but I’d like to offer my condolences anyway over the loss of brother officers in Oakland. It’s a very sad week.

42 alegrias  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:13:25am

re: #36 rawmuse

Last time I looked, Iraq had more liquidity than we do.
Spruce the place up, instead of building palaces.

* * * *
Yes they do! Iraq’s stock exchange didn’t have electricity it seemed, and could not trade in the weird “international/global” stuff that sunk the rest of us.

Iraq’s got cash to burn. They can buy their own goshdarn street lights now. And Obama can direct him to just the right solar powered street light vendor green business.

43 realwest  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:13:54am

re: #27 lawhawk You are correct that history is written by the winners. But the winner in this historical contest hasn’t been decided yet, because the contest continues.
And those familiar with military history, anyway, should know that those who appear to be ahead in the early going are frequently the ones who lose.

44 madisonsfriend  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:14:12am

re: #35 Wyatt Earp
You are in Philly? I am going to Philly this weekend. looking for Zitner easter eggs and decent pizza.

45 LindaMarie  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:14:34am

re: #37 madisonsfriend


Only if tagged as such.

46 jcm  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:19:06am

Iraq is on the proper path, it has a good chance. But it’s like a 8 year old, it still needs 10 years of rearing to make it an adult.

You don’t abandon an 8 year old to the world. Neither should we abandon Iraq and the Iraqis. The bulk of the price has been paid. Not finishing the job only means will have to pay it again in the future.

47 kansas  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:37:42am

Obama be leaving Iraq soon. Get to Afghanistan and start the bleeding there. He knows how to inflict damage on the US.

48 Achilles Tang  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:40:58am

That was a cool article.

I could help but laugh at this quote “One American officer I spoke to said the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police would be twice as effective if only they could learn to read maps.”

Having spent some 10 years in Arab countries, I can say that it is not unique to Iraq. I have always wondered what the explanation is. I suspect something about the education and something about the state of flux of the region. Whatever it is, don’t ask directions from locals if traveling there.

49 turn  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 10:53:29am

re: #23 pat

Are you serious, he said that? Never let an imagined disaster go to waste. sheesh

50 debutaunt  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 11:02:23am

re: #48 Naso Tang

That was a cool article.

I could help but laugh at this quote “One American officer I spoke to said the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police would be twice as effective if only they could learn to read maps.”

Having spent some 10 years in Arab countries, I can say that it is not unique to Iraq. I have always wondered what the explanation is. I suspect something about the education and something about the state of flux of the region. Whatever it is, don’t ask directions from locals if traveling there.

Geez, a map whould show the actual size of Israel.

51 debutaunt  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 11:15:57am

re: #50 debutaunt

Geez, a map whould show the actual size of Israel.

PIMF - get the “h” out.

52 Pooncakes, Hero of Zion  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 11:17:54am

Shoutout to the Artic Wolves (172nd SBCT, now 1/25 SBCT) , who’ve spent far more than half of the last 4 years there.

53 Clubsec  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 11:20:20am

Get your check books out:
Michael Totten
PO Box 312
Portland, OR 97207-0312

Insightful observations and well written narratives, Michael.
Little did we know just how far down the infastructure rankings Iraq fell during the decades of Hussein. The FMSM lied to everyone saying childeren playing in the parks flying kites, everything is well and good. Remember CNN and their unwritten agreement with the Stalinist Hussein not to criticize his regime? No doubt other alphabet networks behaved in the same repulsive manner.

Send some money to Michael everyone. His reporting of what is going on ‘over there’ is worth it. And we sure as hell ain’t gonna get any truth from the FMSM.

54 RangerReject  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 11:36:31am

I thought it was a good article, and very much what I remember from when I was there from 05-07. But I wish Totten would not name and show pictures of the soldiers he is working with. Big OPSEC nono there.

55 Pooncakes, Hero of Zion  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 11:38:34am

re: #54 RangerReject

I’ve always thought we should institute the same policy the Israelis have for their air force: no names and photos. Publishing that info invites retaliation against soldiers and their families.

56 Promethea  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 11:58:43am

re: #15 StillAMarine

Trust me, the Zero seems to want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Then he will accept all the criminals and other misfits from the Middle East as Carter did with Cuba.
In only a few months, I daresay, the Zero has done almost as much damage as Carter did in four years.

It certainly fits with his action releasing some Guantanamo inmates into the U.S. population. He can’t wait to reverse all the policies of his predecessors that he doesn’t like, never mind the consequences.

Dear Leader is an idiot as well as a monomaniac.

57 LEGION  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 3:53:18pm

He recently released a Guantanamo jerk who is now leading the Taliban in Afghanistan to kill all our new troops he is pouring in. Whatta dope he is- b.o. body odor president.

58 Dr. Shalit  Fri, Mar 27, 2009 7:26:27pm

re: #57 LEGION

He recently released a Guantanamo jerk who is now leading the Taliban in Afghanistan to kill all our new troops he is pouring in. Whatta dope he is- b.o. body odor president.

Legion -

Believe Your Jerk was released under Bush 43. Doesn’t matter much, does it?
Bush 43 was under pressure on this situation since 2004 and the Hamdi case.
The difference IS that Bush 43 and his administration rightly opposed this encroachment on the Article 2 Power of the CIC in wartime. Pres. Obama and HIS ILK encouraged the encroachment - AND STILL DO - as long as it applies to MUSLIMS!

-S-


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