And They Say The Iraq War Is Over

Sometimes there was no sugar or Splenda for coffee. On chicken wing night, wings were rationed at six per person.

James Joyner · Tuesday, February 7, 2012 · 4 comments

The New York Times reports on the agonies suffered by our boys in Baghdad:

After the American troops departed in December, life became more difficult for the thousands of diplomats and contractors left behind. Convoys of food that were previously escorted by the United States military from Kuwait were delayed at border crossings as Iraqis demanded documentation that the Americans were unaccustomed to providing.

Within days the salad bar at the embassy dining hall ran low. Sometimes there was no sugar or Splenda for coffee. On chicken wing night, wings were rationed at six per person. Over the holidays, housing units were stocked with Meals Ready to Eat, the prepared food for soldiers in the field.

The horrors.

via Andrew Exum, Jeremy Scahill, and others laughing hysterically as they tweeted

Comments

Ron Beasley says:

Tuesday, 7 February 2012 at 12:15

If Israel attacks Iran food will be the least of the problems the diplomats and contractors have.
Ron Beasley says:

Tuesday, 7 February 2012 at 12:27

U.S. Planning to Slash Iraq Embassy Staff by Up to Half

The swift realization among some top officials that the diplomatic build-up may have been ill-advised represents a remarkable pivot for the State Department, in that officials spent more than a year planning the expansion and that many of the thousands of additional personnel have only recently arrived.Michael W. McClellan, the spokesman for the embassy here, said in a statement, “over the last year and continuing this year the Department of State and the Embassy in Baghdad have been considering ways to appropriately reduce the size of the U.S. mission in Iraq, primarily by decreasing the number of contractors needed to support the embassy’s operations.”

Mr. McClellan said the number of diplomats — currently about 2,000 — is also, “subject to adjustment as appropriate.”

To make the cuts the embassy, he said, “is hiring Iraqi staff and sourcing more goods and services to the local economy.”
Stormy Dragon says:

Tuesday, 7 February 2012 at 13:31

@Ron Beasley:

Given that Iraq is standing between Iran and Israel (and seems to be well on the way to being one of Iran’s puppets), reducing the number of potential hostages the US has stationed there as quickly as possible is probably a good idea.
Tillman says:

Tuesday, 7 February 2012 at 15:03

Convoys of food that were previously escorted by the United States military from Kuwait were delayed at border crossings as Iraqis demanded documentation that the Americans were unaccustomed to providing.

Here’s what bothers me: the people shipping this have been well aware for months now the U.S. was pulling out, and they didn’t expect the Iraqis to bother checking their documentation afterward? That’s a great example of incompetence, or at the least underestimating Middle Eastern folk.