red states rule
02-09-2009, 11:22 AM
I thought Iraq was a total disaster.
At least that is what the left has been saying
Falluja’s Strange Visitor: A Western Tourist
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/02/07/world/07falluja.600.jpg
BAGHDAD — “I am a tourist,” were his first words. The telephone line from Falluja was bad, but there could be no mistake. Falluja’s first Western leisure visitor was in town.
Not for long, though. An Iraqi checkpoint guard spotted the traveler, Luca Marchio, among Iraqi passengers in a public minibus heading from Baghdad to the once notorious — and still tense — city and alerted his superiors.
Soon, Mr. Marchio, 33, a native of Como, Italy, found himself in the Falluja police headquarters surrounded by bewildered Iraqi officers trying to figure out why a Westerner would wander around this city without a translator or guards. Mr. Marchio may have worried the police, but his main concern was saving money.
In two telephone interviews he brushed away all concerns for his safety and offers of help.
“I am a tourist. I want to see the most important cities in the country. That is the reason why I am here now,” he said in heavily accented English. “I want to see and understand the reality because I have never been here before, and I think every country in the world must be seen.”
Mr. Marchio said he had intended on staying overnight in Falluja, but was forced to alter his travel plans. “The authorities explained to me that it was impossible because there are not any hotels here. They suggested a short tour and then go back to Baghdad.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/world/middleeast/07falluja.html?_r=1&hp
At least that is what the left has been saying
Falluja’s Strange Visitor: A Western Tourist
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/02/07/world/07falluja.600.jpg
BAGHDAD — “I am a tourist,” were his first words. The telephone line from Falluja was bad, but there could be no mistake. Falluja’s first Western leisure visitor was in town.
Not for long, though. An Iraqi checkpoint guard spotted the traveler, Luca Marchio, among Iraqi passengers in a public minibus heading from Baghdad to the once notorious — and still tense — city and alerted his superiors.
Soon, Mr. Marchio, 33, a native of Como, Italy, found himself in the Falluja police headquarters surrounded by bewildered Iraqi officers trying to figure out why a Westerner would wander around this city without a translator or guards. Mr. Marchio may have worried the police, but his main concern was saving money.
In two telephone interviews he brushed away all concerns for his safety and offers of help.
“I am a tourist. I want to see the most important cities in the country. That is the reason why I am here now,” he said in heavily accented English. “I want to see and understand the reality because I have never been here before, and I think every country in the world must be seen.”
Mr. Marchio said he had intended on staying overnight in Falluja, but was forced to alter his travel plans. “The authorities explained to me that it was impossible because there are not any hotels here. They suggested a short tour and then go back to Baghdad.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/world/middleeast/07falluja.html?_r=1&hp