The Accidental Linguist

I’d like to take this opportunity to comment on a recent news story that’s really depressing me. As some of you may have heard the full might and power of the rebuilt Iraqi military recently went down to Basrah to take care of a certain unruly militia there. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki even flew down to oversee the operation personally. But by all reliable accounts, it appears that the militia won.

The disaster was highlighted at the height of the fighting, while US and British warplanes and commandos were being called in to try and salvage the operation, when Al-Maliki was forced to evacuate his headquarters because it was being subjected to intense enemy fire. This is in addition to a vigorous uprising by the Mahadi army throughout the rest of the south, as well as in Baghdad where as usual US forces did almost all of the fighting. Indeed it appears that if US forces did not have an overwhelming presence in the country the current government would be swept away very quickly.

The worst part is that we saw this before in 2004, when native Iraqi units either defected or fled during Moqtada Al-Sadr’s first uprising. At the time it was an unpleasant surprise, but what could we expect? This time they did a little better but– come ON. Four years later and this is it? The improvement is underwhelming.

What we really should be asking ourselves is why Iran’s pet militia is so much better than our pet army. But that is a question for another day.

This reminds me of a joke I used to have with some of my friends about Baghdad International Airport, also known as BIAP. Originally it was called Sadaam International Airport (SIAP), and we always said that after the US left it would be SIAP again. Best-case scenario– Sistani (Ali Al-Sistani, Iraq’s senior Shia religious leader). But more likely– Sadr.

In other news, 72 Australian scuba divers have evidently set a new world record for underwater ironing, taking their ironing boards and their clothes into 10-foot-deep water off the coast of Melbourne. The group beat a previous record of 70 Australian scuba divers ironing their clothes in a swimming pool. Also, I’ve posted a new review for a book called Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. The book has gotten excellent reviews from everywhere and won a couple of awards, and frankly I think it is deserved. I can’t help but admire Diamond a bit, as a guy who really got out there, in remote, unusual and uncomfortable parts of the globe and learned through experience about the human condition. As he says in his prologue it was this trekking as much as his decades of diligent scholarship which gave him the perspective to write such a compellingly relevant book.