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File: 970729_aadet_06.txtADDITIONAL COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS: All of the Iraqi officials that we met were very hospitable. They really went out of their way to comply with our directions and make us comfotable as possible. It seemed to us that most of their society is based the "The Military Machine". Every town or village we went by had AAA, military hardware of some sort, or a least military guards. All of the military facilities we visited were in poor condition. Trash everywhere, buildings falling apart and most of their troops were living in vehicles or outside the open. The command facilities were kept up fairly well, but support facilities and maintenance areas looked like they should be condemed. The Central Iraq area is very green and scenic looking. We could tell that most of the civilian population live a poor life. Unless a person is associated with the government, the Bathe Party, they are destined for poverty. We on met a few people on our travels that expressed a negative opinion of the government. Later, we found out that a good majority of the people are not satisfied with the situation there. People are afraid to speak their opinon in pubic for fear of punishment. The embargo on Iraq, in our opinion, has not made a significant impact of their economy up to now. Several merchant in the area of our hotel had asked us when the embargo would be lifted. We told them we were not reponsible for those kinds of problems. Most of the restaurants served very good meals. The grocery stores were stocked well as we saw GI gift packs (from the war), MRE components, and chow hall rations (labelled "For Kurdish Refuges") on the shelfs. The monetary system according to the Iraqi's has been getting steadily worse over the the last year and a half. The exchange rate is currentlya $3.75 U.S. to 1 Iraqi Dinar. A taxi ride across the bridge (about three miles) runs about 4 Iraqi Dinars. An average meal is about 30 to 40 Dinars, and a Pepsi is about 9 Dinars. Gasoline is cheap, about 1090 Fil's for 10 liters. Iraq had many religious mosques in the area, but the people are a lot more Westernized than most Moslem societies. Alcohol is legal, most women wear normal western clothing and about a quarter of the population claim to be Christian. The Iraqi's brought us to all of the locations we rrequested. They alway receive at least one days notice before all inspections. We are convinced that they were moving equipment around just prior to our visits. Most store areas had signs of heavy vehicle traffic in the sand and empty spaces in warehouses where the dust had not had time to settle yet. They were also very nervous about us taking pictures and spending long amounts of time in their storage areas. Everywhere we went we were escorted by a least a dozen Iraqi intelligence personnel(Minders). They were assigned to protect us and keep us frfom seeing anything of importance. V000237
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