Our Man in Baghdad

Iraq's ruler...of law

The mission Phil Lynch chose to accept is a hairy one: trying to establish justice in the midst of a war. He’s an assistant U.S. attorney here, working out of the Tacoma office, and the Rule of Law coordinator in Iraq. Stationed for a year at the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone, Lynch, 56, is watching over the Iraqi High Tribunal and major criminal courts in Baghdad. He also coordinates legal strategy between the U.S. ambassador’s office and the military.

Previously, he advised the tribunal during Saddam Hussein's trial. Lynch opted to return, he said in December, because of a fascination to see a court system revived after 30 years of oppression. In an update on Lynch, Ben Hallman of The American Lawyer reports in a recent post:

Lynch told me that one of the challenges he faces is defending the provincial [courtroom] reconstruction teams to the congressional bean counters. I'm still working on getting budget figures, but the cost of supporting independent teams in far-flung corners of the country is extremely expensive. Security alone costs thousands of dollars per mission. And, benchmarking progress is almost impossible, he says.

For example, the team in Basra hasn't left the Army base in six months. Does it make sense to continue to pay to support the team? Maybe, Lynch says, a place like Basra is where the U.S. needs a rule of law team most of all. Whatever the answer, Lynch says, "I don't think you can impact, on a provincial level, rule of law activities from here."

An interesting political note: Lynch told me that he has briefed all three remaining U.S. presidential candidates in the past, but none during the current campaign cycle

Topics: Iraq

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Being all we can Be

It must be tough recruiting for the Army these days. Numbers are down. This year, Washington state recruiters fulfilled 80 percent of their quota despite a nation-wide $200 million advertising budget. The Army can’t seem to figure out why. They offer up to $40,000 in signing bonuses and a free ride to college.

The normal response: Duh stupid, we’re in a war. You might get killed.

But the truth is, I can’t figure out why the Army's struggling either. They’ve relaxed their standards enough. Waivers are allowing recruits to enlist at the ripe old age of 42, have ADHD, a criminal record, prior drug use, counseling or asthma.

So, if the requisite waivers are granted, I could technically still fight for my country if I’m over the hill, unable to pay attention, fresh out of the can, smoking dope, in marriage counseling and sucking wind. As long as I’ve graduated from high school and passed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (It ain’t rocket science) and a physical — I should be ok. That, my friends, is being all I can be, or an Army of one, or whatever — even if it isn’t much.

Topics: Iraq

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So how many next year?

At the outset of the Iraq war, protests in Seattle lasted for days. In 2005, 5,000 people showed up in Seattle Center to protest the second anniversary of the conflict. The following year: "hundreds" came to protest and last year, perhaps 1,000 recognized the 4th anniversary. Yesterday, 40 or 50 protested the half decade we've spent there. In those five years, nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died, 286 with Washington roots.

So what's happened? Why the low turnout? Have we grown apathetic? Bored? Do we simply not care anymore? Or, as I hope, have we recognized that signs and placards and slogans aren't doing anthing to sway the current administration. Perhaps we've recognized that the best hope of ending this conflict once and for all has nothing to do with how loud we chant or how bright our signs are, but how we vote in eight short months. I sure hope so.

Topics: Iraq

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Blackwater Can't Even Pass Gas Properly

From today's New York Times:

2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questions

Army Captain Kincy Clark, on the security contractor's sudden, seemingly unwarranted use of gas on Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers (it's being speculated they used the gas to clear the road so they could get through a traffic jam):

"This was decidedly uncool and very, very dangerous."

Topics: Iraq

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