From a regular reader/emailer serviceman in Baghdad:

Things have been getting a bit interesting over here for the last few days.
I had dinner with a few members of the Spanish contingent here in Baghdad
and they were not at all pleased with their new Prime Minister’s directive
to pull out. They realized that the only way to fight terrorism is to find
the terrorists where they live and kill them, but they were also concerned
that their government had already alienated the French and the Germans by
joining the coalition and now the government was going to alienate the U.S.
It was a very interesting discussion. None of the ones at the table wanted
to leave and realized that what we’re doing here is important for not only
the future of this country, but also could demonstrate that democracy can
succeed in this region.
I went to one of the local markets looking around at what the locals are
trying to sell. It’s heartbreaking because the instant you walk in you’re
accosted by children trying to sell you pirated DVDs or packets of money
with Saddam’s picture on it. The DVDs are $5 and the money is usually
$1/package. The problem is that the instant you show any interest in
purchasing from them 10 more kids come out of the woodwork. Then the adults
peek out from their booths to see who’s buying. Don’t know whether the kids
were associated with the booths or were selling on their own, but I just
pulled out some singles and gave them to the kids. I wish the security
situation here would get better soon so that companies could set up
operations here and start to employ people. All in good time I guess.
Well I hope all is well back at NRO World HQ and tell Mr. Derbyshire that
I’m going to order one of the “Pop Culture is Filth” shirts and use it on my
runs here.