Dinner with the General

I have been very lucky to be located in the Baghdad IZ for several reasons. First it is one of the safest areas to live and has many creature comforts. It also offers the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. The Presidential Palace holds offices of both military and civilian groups from many different countries, along with hosting the Iraqi National Assembly.

When eating in the palace cafeteria, seating is at a premium and everyone must share tables. This provides a unique opportunity to mingle with others from very different backrounds. Several nights ago I had dinner with a retired marine 2 star general who is now in charge of the finance committee for rebuilding Iraq. (Funny thing is he told us that he has no experience with finances, but has alot of very smart people working for him.) He was the first general that I had ever met, and was very down to earth and easy to talk to about current issues. Also at the table was a Romanian soldier, and an American soldier originally from Nigeria. Backgrounds are always very diverse. Even at a table made up entirely of US Army soldiers, we all come from very different walks of life. Some are active duty, others in the reserves or the guard, some in infantry units and others in medical units like myself, and the list goes on and on.

This morning I was eating breakfast with 2 civilian contractors from the United States. Both were engineers who graduated from college in the 1960s. The man was originally from the Phillipines and had also worked as an engineer in the Vietnam War. The woman was born and raised in Iraq. They both had very differing opinions on the effectiveness of the US presence in Iraq. People seem able to agree to disagree most of the time. I was very interested to hear more from the Iraqi-American woman, but she was late to work and couldn't stay to answer all my nosey questions. Maybe I will run into her again soon.....