Rusafa

December 27, 2007

Well, Christmas came and went with little fan fare. I don’t want to think I’ve been a “Scrooge” or anything, but my mind just didn’t get wrapped around Christmas this year. I can safely and honestly say that I had a lot of other things on my mind. I feel like I should have done more, or felt more. But frankly, I just didn’t.

So with that I was ready to get back to work yesterday. Between the Iraq holiday and Christmas we’ve had a lot of time off. I haven’t been here long enough to really want or enjoy that. Most of the other people here looked forward to it, but I didn’t and was ready to get to work. I took over my friend Ed’s old complex, Rusafa #11, in the tent complex. I think I mentioned once before that there are 13 complexes all together, and 7-13 are tents and the rest are hard. And then each unit has about 750 inmates living in it. And each complex has its own “Warden”, and Deputy Warden, and then Duty Officers, and then ICO’s. The “Warden” would be equivalent to what I know as a Security Manager. All of the Warden’s answer to one man and his name is General Juma. He used to be a General in Saddam’s army, but now runs the correctional service for the whole country. His HQ is here at Rusafa. I have never met him, and the Warden’s are all scared of him, (as is everyone else seemingly), but I hope to meet him soon. I have been told I will have plenty of chances. So my Warden, (I can’t write his name for security reasons…so I’ll call him Bill), really liked Ed. He was bummed when he found Ed was transferring because he felt like he was just working into a routine with him that ran well. I’ll have to explain just a bit about our roll as “Advisers” as it relates to the Warden. We are here to help them…not do their jobs for them. I know the difference, but most of them, (the Iraq’s), do not. They want us to get stuff done for them, in lieu of them following their own procedures and channels. Some of them I don’t blame because they have legitimate beefs with things like not having enough blankets when it’s cold as hell, or not having the proper equipment for their ICO’s to be effective. But others are blatantly abusive of their relationship with us as “Advisers”. I’ve heard them ask other guys for guns, ammunition, pills, and even money. There may come a time when I have to give my Warden money so he can purchase something off the open market for the Unit like sand for sandbags, (I know…the middle of the freakin’ desert and they can’t get sand!), or piping for the plumbing, or some electrical equipment for generators. Ed told me he split the cost with “Bill” for some piping once because they couldn’t get the prison to supply it and it was needed badly. So if that time ever comes I’ll have to decide what kind of “adviser” I am going to be. I’m trying hard to have a good working relationship with this man because to do otherwise would just be counter productive. But I don’t want to get myself into a position of vulnerability, obviously. I’ll just have to see how it goes. As far as the ICO’s are concerned, they are just like any other worker you would come across. Some work hard and take their job seriously, and some slouch off and are just collecting a pay check. But the one major difference between these people and Americans in the work place is that Iraq’s don’t have any sense of time constraints or urgency when it comes to getting the job done. They are never in a hurry to do anything….and I mean anything. They have a common saying they use…”Insha Allah”, and it means “God’s will”, or God willing. So you can tell them to get something done or that a particular task needs to get handled ASAP and they reply with, “Insha Allah.” If a guy escapes because they didn’t use restraints when he’s outside the perimeter…”Insha Allah”, it was God’s will. If an inmate dies from an infection that otherwise might have been cured with proper medical care…”Insha Allah”, it was God’s will. We all have to find a balance between what to expect from them as we “advise” them on how to run things, and then how to just let things go because culturally we are so different and it would be foolish to expect them to do it like we Americans would. That’s good stuff huh? I love the challenge and hopefully will learn to work within this delicate balance soon…Insha Allah.

Jim Franks