Reply #4: there's no provision for rooms for congressional delegations ....... [View All]

[rodeodance]

Also, there are about 200 non-U.S. workers brought in from around the region who are replacing Iraqi staff because it is too dangerous for the Iraqis, who live outside the fortified Green Zone, to work for Americans.

Worst of all, there's no provision for rooms for congressional delegations or other distinguished guests coming to shop in the famed markets. There aren't any safe hotels in Baghdad, much less a decent B&B.

Embassy employees, now living in trailers with no overhead protection, are getting increasingly jittery over mortar and rocket attacks. New guidelines tell them to wear helmets and flak jackets when walking in the open. But some employees, sleeping in those tin-can trailers, apparently would actually like to take off the helmets and jackets while they're in bed.

One speaker at a recent town hall meeting in Baghdad, McClatchy Newspapers reported yesterday, asked for bullet-resistant Kevlar blankets to protect him from shrapnel in case of incoming mortar fire.