Baghdad Garbage Goats

BAGHDAD - What an awesome name for a band. I call dibs. Their first album will be called "Don't Step in the Shit Water."

Livestock are everywhere in Iraq, even in the middle of Baghdad. I'm embedded in southern Baghdad and I constantly see Iraqis herding goats and sheep through the city. They're almost always near a trash dumping site (which describes about half the area), far away from any grass. The dingy-coated animals just munch on trash all day. I'm sure they make great eating.

Shit water, of course, is the affectionate term soldiers use for the foul black liquid that courses through the streets here (and just about everywhere in Iraq) and sometimes pools into ankle deep poo ponds. Best to watch your step.

Basically I'm on bomb patrol here. It's been relatively quiet for a long time but there's been a series of car bombs in the Dora area here, so I'm basically looking at the security of security gains made here.

I'm amazed at the resilience of Iraqis. I'm nervous enough standing next to Iraqi Police officers as they search cars for bombs at a checkpoint (I'd hate to be there when they actually find one). But a day after a bomb goes off, shop owners sweep up the glass and shoppers are back in the streets.