time to leave for Baghdad. It is 5:45 in the morning and I am sitting
in a large hanger waiting for news on the flight. I sneak off now and
then to shoot a bit more of the latrine graffiti, as people found it
suspicious when I would just stand in the bathroom with my cameras out
waiting for stalls to open up.
Finally it is confirmed that we are leaving and after three more
hours of waiting and formalities, we are shuttled out to a landing zone
and led onto a large military airplane.
We are herded on like cattle and cramped into hanging mesh seats.
There is no air-conditioning and the thermometer on my watch reads
121f/49.4c. I look at the faces of the people on the plane with me as
the last remaining light is cut off by the closing doors.
After a little over an hour, we arrive at Baghdad International
Airport, known here is BIAP. Although the actual airport can be seen
in the distance, the military flights land on the opposite end of the
complex and drop us off near a series of hangers where incoming troops
are processed and transferred to other locations. I will end up stuck
in the hanger for the next half day, waiting for a helicopter to the
Green Zone.
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