baghdad

Big Day in Iraq

The United States has officially handed over control of the “Green Zone” back to the Iraqis. From The Washington Post:
When the clock struck midnight on Wednesday, the U.S. returned the palace to the Iraqi government and relinquished formal control over the Green Zone, a heavily fortified six-square-mile enclave on the Tigris River where key U.S. [...]

Legitimately Good News From Iraq

Naturally, it’s beneath stuff about 11 people dying in a Mosul suicide bombing, but still: Egypt is due to reopen its embassy in Baghdad, closed since insurgents murdered Egypt’s ambassador in 2005.
The Los Angeles Times reports:

Welcome To Bagram

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – For those, like myself, who’ve never before been to Afghanistan, the sprawling Bagram Air Field is known for two things: transit and torture.
Naturally I saw no evidence of torture during my brief in-processing, after which I went on to Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost Province, near the Pakistan border. [...]