Life in the "Green Zone" would be a great Robin Williams comedy

[RamboLiberal]

<snip>

Near the Green Zone Bazaar, Iraqi kids hawk pornographic DVDs to soldiers. Sheik Fuad Rashid, the U.S.-appointed imam of the local mosque, dresses like a nun, dyes his hair platinum blond and claims that Mary Mother of Jesus appeared to him in a vision (hence the getup). On any given night, residents can listen to karaoke, play badminton or frequent one of several rowdy bars, including an invitation-only speakeasy run by the CIA. At the Green Zone Cafe—where contractors toting 9mm pistols smoke hookahs while an Iraqi drummer provides entertainment—a sign on the door warns customers to empty their weapons before consuming alcohol.

To some, the Green Zone feels like a vast isolation chamber. One recent night at a saloon called The Bunker, a resident contractor asked, "So, what's going on out there in Iraq anyway?" He hadn't left the Green Zone in six months. "It's like Plato's republic in here, all of these well-meaning, smart people who want to do the right thing," says one security contractor and Green Zone regular. "But they never leave here and they have no idea what's happening in the country they're supposed to be building. It's totally absurd."

The war often intrudes. In mid-August a 13-foot FROG missile loaded with more than 300 pounds of explosives detonated on the roof of a U.S. Embassy building, causing massive damage but killing nobody. Other attacks, such as a mortar strike last June that hit a bus just outside the zone, have succeeded only in killing innocent Iraqis. Several thousand Iraqis live inside the zone and, with rare exception, U.S. officials have no idea whose side they're on. "The thugs and looters remain, and many of them are not very nice," says Lt. Col. Richard Allinger, a longtime Green Zone resident. Security guards sometimes get out of hand themselves. A recent spate of shooting incidents between blue-uniformed security forces inside the Green Zone led to a confidential report, "Blue on Blue Violence: Target Practice or What?"