Today was one of those days where I wonder if they will make it

So we have another muslim holiday called Shabaniya coming up, which is about the birth of the 12th Imam (I think I got that right). It involves another bigass pilgrimage right down the street in front of where we live down to Karbala. "Millions" will walk over about a 7-8 day stretch, although today I learned many aren't as faithful as Arba'een, as it is hot as blazes here (around 115 every day), so a lot of people will drive it this time.

So anyway, we are expecting a lot of foot traffic, and in a humanitarian effort, we (the Coalition) gave some bottled water to the Iraqi Army Brigade for them to distribute during the march. It makes them look good, it is a nice non-sectarian guesture, and hopefully it will alleviate some of the walking casualties that will no doubt occur from the heat.

Well, it appears the Division Commander did not approve of his Brigade getting water from the Coalition; he thought it should go to him. So he sent trucks and a forklift to the Brigade to take all of the water-- 54 pallets of it. Water is not a big deal to us, our supply lines have it coming out our ears, but to Iraqis, water is life. The water in town is not very drinkable (think Mexico/3d world country) and the people in the countryside get theirs from the severely polluted canals, that is, when there is water in the canals. His rationale was that he was going to hold it and later distribute it to the Brigade so they could later distribute it to the people. He was said he worried the Brigade would keep it for themselves.

Sure you were.

A quick Iraqi Logistics 101 class: Most of the IA still runs on a cash-based logistics system: Each IA unit is paid on the amount of soldiers it has, and that's what the unit uses to feed, house, outfit its unit. If the Brigade Commander is a good businessman, he gets good deals on food, furniture, office supplies, etc, and has money left over for area improvements, infrastructure, air conditioners, and stuff like that. This system circumvents a very inefficient logistics system, which is the biggest problem facing the IA today. It is also a potentially corrupt system, as the unit commander can skimp on things for the soldier and pocket the money, or steer his business towards specific contractors in return for kickbacks. So when a Division Commander gets his greasy palms on 64,000 bottles of free water, he doesn't have to buy bottled water for a long time.

My opinion: Water (and supplies in general) is power, and Iraqis love to hoard stuff. Stuff equals power ('wasta') and if I have something you don't I can hold it over your head. They do the same with information: It makes me have value-- if you know what I know, what good am I? Usually I refer to this behavior as "The Junior High Syndrome" as its logic is quite juvenile. It's also why Iraqis in general are so meeting averse and information sharing averse, which totally goes against our current trend of being an information sharing-based society.

It makes you wonder how a society lasted this long. Oh yeah, that's right-- Brutal dictatorship.

Another day. Hope you are well.
Ron