Finally in Baghdad

It's been a long day of travel, but I finally reached the International Zone in Baghdad late Monday night, capping off a day that began at 5 a.m. I didn't think my chances of getting out of Kuwait would be good, mainly because I was No. 48 on the list of people seeking transport. I was even more doubtful when I got up at 5 to check the schedule for Baghdad International and saw that there was only one trip scheduled for the whole day. But I took my place in the waiting room at 6:30 a.m., and almost immediately, the desk clerk asked, "Who's going to BIAP." (BIAP is the initials for Baghdad Interational Airport.) Needless to say, I sprinted toward the desk. Three hours later, I was on a Japanese cargo plane crammed mostly with American troops.

After arriving at Baghdad International an hour later, I had to wait another hour for 1st Lt. Garron Garn to pick me up and take me to Camp Slayer, which is just southeast of Baghdad. In the center of the camp is Al Faw Palace, one of Saddam Hussein's gifts to himself. The palace is surrounded on three sides by a wide moat, part if which is filled with carp and bass. And of course, there was a lot of marble.

I had a healthy lunch at Slayer and waited around for about five hours and was taken to Camp Liberty. There I was to catch a ride at 6:15 p.m. in a Blackhawk helicopter that would take me to the International Zone. But Camp Liberty did not liberate me right away.

When the scheduled choppers arrived, those of us going to Baghdad were lined up and preparing to board when we were told that the copters were low on fuel. No one complained when they left to refuel, because that's important, but if I knew another four hours and 20 helicopters would pass before one came that we could catch, I might have taken my chances with the first two.

Part of the wait, we were told, was because the air space over Baghdad was temporarily closed. The thought of catching a taxi crossed my mind, but in the end, I determined that that was a mindless thought. Finally, we caught a bird. It was my first time in a helicopter, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the sky, Baghdad looked somewhat pretty. I was lit like any city, and some of the neighborhoods looked like middle to upper-class neighborhoods you would see in any city.

After being dropped off, I was picked up and driven to CPIC, the Combined Press Information Center. The drive over was dark, and there were concrete barricades everywhere. I was like going through a maze. When we arrived, I was photograped and fingerprinted and given a media pass. That was after Rev. Boulware was called for some minor assistance. I was also given some good army leftovers, because I was somewhat starving. Tomorrow, I begin the last leg of my journey, which is to head north of Baghdad and meet up with the 298th.