Good Times In Baghdad

I used to be a supporter of John McCain. He actually seemed an impressive candidate back in the day, but has now officially turned into a crazy old man. It has been a slow, sad journey into his current pathetic state and every moment has been documented in the press. This week we saw the final nail in the coffin for McCain, as he sauntered the streets of Baghdad in a moment that reminds one of Michael Dukakis riding in a tank.

The McCain-Baghdad nightmare started last week, when McCain went on several talk shows and claimed parts of Baghdad were safer than Detroit.

That, of course, turned out to be bullshit. Reporters in Baghdad, military officers and Iraqi civilians flat out said that McCain was wrong. So, what do you do if you’re a crazy old man? You prove those fuckers wrong! McCain was off to Baghdad this week, where he strolled the streets while being guarded by 100 American soldiers, 3 Blackhawk helicopters and 2 Apache gunships – just like they do in Detroit. He also threw in a bulletproof vest for good measure.

Only 30 minutes after McCain left, a half dozen morters were fired at the Green Zone, where he had held his press conference. The next day was even worse as 21 workers from the market McCain had visited were “ambushed, bound and shot dead.” Doesn’t take a genius to realize the insurgents were sending a message.

So, McCain is a fucking idiot when it comes to Iraq, but so are a lot of the politicians these days. Unfortunately, that is who seems to be speaking for the Iraqis. We get a quote from Cheney, Rice or Bush about what the Iraqis want but rarely do we hear it from their own mouths, which is a direct result of how dangerous the country has become. Reporters are scared to venture outside the Green Zone. I am tired of hearing assholes like McCain and Rice tell me what is going on in Iraq when they have not spent a day on the ground and therefore don’t know shit.

Well, we finally have a glimpse inside the mind of the every day Iraqi and it is amazing. The website Hometownbaghdad.com has given us some of the most riveting videos I have ever seen on the internet. Created by Iraqis, it is a “documentary web series following the lives of a few Iraqi 20-somethings trying to survive in Baghdad.”

Meet Adel, a middle class, heavy metal guitar player whose band has split up because of the war.



There also seems to be an issue with bullets that McCain failed to mention on this visit.



It’s a side of the war you have never seen.