Just when I thought....adventures at US Iraq Central Command (Doha, Qatar)
Just when I was beginning to think that adding to my list of truly unique experiences on this trip was about to end, I'm thrown a curveball. Another unique experience, defying categorization yesterday! This is a good curveball.
I lucked out and was able to ride along to go pick up some American soldiers for their R&R leave to an Easter picnic - In US IRAQ CENTRAL COMMAND!!! No, it isn't glamorous, but as we passed one of several checkpoints and entered the US base grounds I realized, this isn't something most civilians get to see, let alone a lowly tourist like myself. I'm not a reporter or in the military so this is quite a treat. The base itself is fairly unremarkable. Lots of concrete barriers. 1 story buildings housing who knows what - planes, electronic control centers - and lots of Humvees around (No, Arnold Schwarzengger wasn't around to greet me)...my tour wasn't that detailed. A couple of 2 or 3 story buildings for offices maybe...the links earlier might shed some more light. I think the ABC News link has a small video.
Of course - no photographs were allowed on the base, but I did buy 8 postcards from the base store and kept my receipt. Needless to say, once you see these postcards, you will know that there is no way I would have bought these postcards in any regular store in this area, let alone in a non-US military base, in other words the postcard that states PROUDLY SERVING - does not apply to me. Though if I stretched the truth I could say I am proudly serving America - by reducing ignorance. That is of course assuming you think ignorance is bad - which I'm not convinced many people in the world think it is. Why I think it is bad would involve talking about some early childhood comments from my dad. Dad - I can blame you for wanting to go on this trip!! Hahaha -- I won't even try mailing any of these postcards from here.
So, not only did I get to see the base area from the inside, but I also got to meet and talk with 8 soliders working in various capacities in Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq. It was good to hear their experience first hand. Heck, I might even appear in a promotional military video on the R&R Family program in Qatar that was being filmed yesterday. We (Soldiers, camera crew and I) joked that I could pass off as a member of the Air Force because of my longer hair. Not the Army, because that is a buzz cut.
It wasn't that much earlier in Dubai that I tried on a traditional head dress and realized with my moustache I *MIGHT* pass off as Arab. Damn...maybe there is some skin whitening cream (Along with some hair coloring and colored contacts) I could use and pass off as being "More American" (My humor related to many people of the world, not thinking that I am American, obviously having no clue as to the ethnic diversity in America - that "I" word I like to use seems to be coming up again).
Oh yeah...while I'm talking ignorance, let me just state that one of the most ignorant folks on this planet must be Osama Bin Laden...I recall reading that he had never visited America, and yet he attacks. Oh wait....isn't that how....---- actually, I'm going to stop my sarcasm because it is really annoying me. The truth is so "ugly" sometimes that nothing short of humor is required to comfort me. There is humor in everything. Sometimes, it just takes awhile to realize it. It really is a Circus.
Well...off to go on a dune driving tour today. Tomorrow, I'll rent a car and explore this sprawling country on my own.
www.experienceqatar.com (Tourism Board)
I lucked out and was able to ride along to go pick up some American soldiers for their R&R leave to an Easter picnic - In US IRAQ CENTRAL COMMAND!!! No, it isn't glamorous, but as we passed one of several checkpoints and entered the US base grounds I realized, this isn't something most civilians get to see, let alone a lowly tourist like myself. I'm not a reporter or in the military so this is quite a treat. The base itself is fairly unremarkable. Lots of concrete barriers. 1 story buildings housing who knows what - planes, electronic control centers - and lots of Humvees around (No, Arnold Schwarzengger wasn't around to greet me)...my tour wasn't that detailed. A couple of 2 or 3 story buildings for offices maybe...the links earlier might shed some more light. I think the ABC News link has a small video.
Of course - no photographs were allowed on the base, but I did buy 8 postcards from the base store and kept my receipt. Needless to say, once you see these postcards, you will know that there is no way I would have bought these postcards in any regular store in this area, let alone in a non-US military base, in other words the postcard that states PROUDLY SERVING - does not apply to me. Though if I stretched the truth I could say I am proudly serving America - by reducing ignorance. That is of course assuming you think ignorance is bad - which I'm not convinced many people in the world think it is. Why I think it is bad would involve talking about some early childhood comments from my dad. Dad - I can blame you for wanting to go on this trip!! Hahaha -- I won't even try mailing any of these postcards from here.
So, not only did I get to see the base area from the inside, but I also got to meet and talk with 8 soliders working in various capacities in Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq. It was good to hear their experience first hand. Heck, I might even appear in a promotional military video on the R&R Family program in Qatar that was being filmed yesterday. We (Soldiers, camera crew and I) joked that I could pass off as a member of the Air Force because of my longer hair. Not the Army, because that is a buzz cut.
It wasn't that much earlier in Dubai that I tried on a traditional head dress and realized with my moustache I *MIGHT* pass off as Arab. Damn...maybe there is some skin whitening cream (Along with some hair coloring and colored contacts) I could use and pass off as being "More American" (My humor related to many people of the world, not thinking that I am American, obviously having no clue as to the ethnic diversity in America - that "I" word I like to use seems to be coming up again).
Oh yeah...while I'm talking ignorance, let me just state that one of the most ignorant folks on this planet must be Osama Bin Laden...I recall reading that he had never visited America, and yet he attacks. Oh wait....isn't that how....---- actually, I'm going to stop my sarcasm because it is really annoying me. The truth is so "ugly" sometimes that nothing short of humor is required to comfort me. There is humor in everything. Sometimes, it just takes awhile to realize it. It really is a Circus.
Well...off to go on a dune driving tour today. Tomorrow, I'll rent a car and explore this sprawling country on my own.
www.experienceqatar.com (Tourism Board)
<< Home