Happy U.S. Troop Pull-Out Day!

In the event of the US Army withdrawing from urban centres (there will still be 130,000 in the country), the governments in both Iraq proper and the KRG have called... of course... and official holiday! For those places south of Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah, yes - this is a good move. Security wise, its good to have people at home with their families... up in the three northern governorates...

The organization I work for has a pretty strict policy on holidays. This came about because some countries have a tendancy to have a lot of them. Often impromptu. Iraq is no different. Because of this, my current organization gives 15 pre-determined days a year that staff can have as holidays. Anything extra is evaluated, but usually not granted.

I was working for another organization previously here in Iraq, and I can see why the 15 day rule is useful. In December of 2008 and 8, because of a combination of pre-determined holidays and impromptu holidays, I think my staff worked a total of 8 days the entire month. A little ridiculous. Between the KRG and the GOI, and many last-minute declared holidays (often the day before - with a phone call at 4pm from the Operations Manager saying - the government says there is a holiday tomorrow so we are not coming to work), which of course you need to give to staff in both areas, actual work can go a little slow.

Now in this case, my current organization has granted the holiday for June 30th. But only for staff in the central regions (Baghdad, Anbar and Babylon) as a security precaution. We don't want people travelling around cities when we do not know what is going to happen. Our staff in Baghdad already has already faced difficulties working over that last two weeks because of all of the insecurities in the central region. We haven't, however, given the holiday to the northern staff. We'll see what morale is like in the office.

As for the pullout (or more appropriate "pullback"). On va voir!

For more on the US troop pull-out:
Washington post: Jubiliation in Iraq on Eve of US Pullback
NYTs: US leaves Iraqi Districts where anger still lingers

The other Sudan

Sorry for absence - too busy with work - will get back to it soon.
In the mean time - lets learn about South Sudan. Everyone knows Darfur, but not many people realise that there are multiple conflicts on multiple fronts happening throughout the country and that the south is effectively separated (it's an autonomous region) from the rest of the country.

South Sudan boasts some of the worst development indicators (it has one doctor for every 500,000 people), and now to boot, it is back in conflict with the northern government (conviently as it approaches it referendum to separate in 2010) with effects that could soon eclipse Darfur.

So now for some light reading - here is an article on the conflict in today's Observer... I'll get back to Iraq in a couple of days.

Guns, children and cattle are the new currency of war in Southern Sudan

Sicilian-American Food from Turkmerica Hawler Style

Yesterday we had our first real "scare" of a potential IED threat in the city centre in a while. Nothing has been found as of yet, but there were loads and loads of under cover and uniformed Peshmerga and secret service everywhere. I'm torn between thinking potential violence leading up to the election or political ploy to show how safe the current government is making Erbil. I wouldn't put it past them – a lot of these ministries are shameless in trying to get exposure on anything they can – particularly if it's going to make those dreaded "islamists" look worse.

Kurds like their vices – especially alcohol. And they like being Kurdish first. I think the likelihood of this region switching over to radical Islam in one election is unlikely. But that is just me.

And don't get me wrong – I take my IED threats very seriously. I won't be going to the market or crowded places all the way up to the elections. Maybe even after. I'm really trying to not become complacent in the belief that the KRG is safe (which it's not – there's a reason they have serious checkpoints everywhere) especially after moving up from Baghdad. I just wonder sometimes…

In other news – it is the weekend and I'm looking forward to meal prepared by a friend who lives part-time in Turkey. Meaning it will include ingredients that we can only dream of here… like maybe avocado, canned tomatoes (not tomato paste), or whole grain rice!!!! I may be getting ahead of myself but TGIT!