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IRAQ WAR

Simple Pleasures

The U.S. military helped reopen several public pools in steamy Baghdad this summer, restoring some normalcy for beleaguered residents. But the openings were not without problems.

By Rod Nordland | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Aug 19, 2008 | Updated: 4:13  p.m. ET Aug 19, 2008

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  • Posted By: Smom @ 08/22/2008 3:49:16 AM

    Comment: I also wanted to say, that when we had this operation, where are all our gun hoe lifeguards, safety people, and swimmers? why did we not have a fundraiser and send our top notch expertise to do the mission right the first time? I think, as a country rich with aquatic activity, that we could have done better. We could have had an operation that envolved our people and really gave the world something to think about. Keep up the good work soldiers. Im humbled by you.

  • Posted By: Inyourface @ 08/22/2008 3:44:00 AM

    Comment: The end of that comment didn't turn out right. That is: that dirty little three-letter word some anti-war people seem allergic to. What do some of you have against the Iraqi people having the freedoms that you have? Many of them are fighting hard to gain those freedoms, and just need a hand-up, not a hand-out! Don't you think that they deserve that too? Yes, even the freedom to spew hateful things on a forum without getting punished for it?violeviolenly pun

  • Posted By: Smom @ 08/22/2008 3:37:56 AM

    Comment: These children have been through a huge ordeal. Im glad that we can take a moment and give them a small gift to leave behind in their hearts and minds. I hope they open up a few more! I think our rollercoaster park companies should be over there too! Give them a reason to wake up each day and live, instead of death and dying, threats, oppression by terrorists. What kind of future or life is that for a growing child?! I also hope that if they cannot do coed, and we can respect their wishes on that one thing, could we at least have a schedule so the women and babies, and girls have a chance to swim? They need more family oriented safe fun. Its not all about the oil and water wells, lets bring life into their future. Something as small as flower seeds to bring a smile. Diapers and supplies for a boost for parents. colored pencils for kids. Ive listened to so much complaining and bickering for how many years now,...and not alot of action on our part. The soldiers can only do so much. Its our job to help bring them home by our actions, committment, and compassion. How would you feel if YOUR world was turned upside down. What would YOU want to have done for you and YOUR family? THAT is what we should be discussing. The rest will resolve itself. And we need to have respect for their way of life. As we would want respect for ours.
    Got any AC's to pass along? Expertise,and skills that may help them. Im tired of the deskseat media that covers a bomb blast here, and a death there.

  • Posted By: Dragon03 @ 08/21/2008 10:57:25 PM

    Comment: It is obvious that nawawimohamad has no real clue of what he is talking about. Until you've been over there, you are not qualified to offer any advice of real value. I've spent 22 months in Baghdad and served in some pretty tough areas (West Rashid and Mansour) and have learned a great deal through my experiences and observations. The people of Baghdad have suffered a great deal over the past several years. Don't underestimate the impact of something as small as the opening of public pools. This may seem minor to most Americans, but it's an important step for everday Iraqis living in Baghdad. Oh, and the comment about dead Soldiers is way off the mark too.

    • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 09/10/2008 5:24:54 AM

      Comment: How can a few swimming pools be equivalent to the total destruction by the US of Iraq?

  • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 08/21/2008 10:31:23 PM

    Comment: The US soldiers have been used by the US administration to achieve some momentary glory for Bush but ultimately everthing will go to waste. The dead soldiers have died for nothing, their wives now have new boy friends and their children don't give a care about their dead parents. The maimed and traumatic soldiers now back home are a burden to society. The overall amount of money spent to rehabilitate these soldiers will be exorbitantly high that it was one of the reasons the US military hospitals prefer them dead thus exposing the scandalous lack of medical care and budget for this purpose. The US administration is also trying to fool everbody by showing a few smiling faces of children in the so-called refurbished swimming pools in Iraq which could be taken anywhere. Unfortunately there are many fools who just believe whatever they saw on the propaganda screen by the US administration without a second thought!

    • Posted By: DesertLemur @ 08/25/2008 3:12:47 PM

      Comment: Wow.....here is the same line of ineffective PSYOP we've seen since WW II-"wives have new boyfriends and children don't care about (dead) parents". It wasn't terribly effective then, later in Korea, or now. You'd think people trying to demoralize us would update a litt.e. For example, not all of our spouses are wives. Hard to believe, nawaimohamad, but in the US army women serve proudly.

  • Posted By: DesertLemur @ 08/21/2008 8:23:44 PM

    Comment: As 4astrongamerica and MoJaBar have pointed out, the only time in the last fifty years there hasn't been outright hostile activities between many tribes and sectarian organizations in Iraq is when there was a sufficiently tyrannical despot at the top to force "peace". Said "peace" during Saddam's time being largely marked by thousands of deaths via his troops or orders, so much violent lawlessness in al Anbar that *he* even largely stayed away from it, forced relocation and "re-ethnicizing" of millions.......you get the idea. So Keven thinks we (the US) deserve punishment? *Every* Iraqi I ever spoke to thoughout 24 total months in Iraq--even those who would come right out and say they hated Americans--still hated Saddam more, and would thank us for taking him out. US isn't perfect, but you're still living here, right? Try to address issues with rational solutions and stop labeling all US soldiers murderers and abusers. Frankly, we don't appreciate it.

  • Posted By: 4astrongamerica @ 08/21/2008 4:37:36 PM

    Comment: You've got to be kidding me. I cannot believe that there are comments condemning this. Did you not read the part about these pools formerly being used by death squads? This had nothing to do with the US invasion. These people had been facing egregious crimes against humanity for generations. I say "money well spent" if this brings joy to the lives of these Iraqi children.

  • Posted By: Kevin P. @ 08/21/2008 4:05:46 PM

    Comment: Bush and others who abetted this war, illegally used the CIA to forge documents & evidence as a pretext, and spent the lives of millions of innocent Iraqis while compromising the US as a result should be held directly accountable for their actions. I doubt if the American people will ever have the virtue to hold anyone accountable for such egregious crimes against humanity and justice. The least we could expect as an outcome would be imprisonment for life. Ideally they should enjoy the same sort of "justice" experienced by Saddam, whose crimes do not even compare to their own.

    • Posted By: MoJabar @ 08/21/2008 4:29:18 PM

      Comment: I miss Uday and Kusay; they were so decadent and dangerous. They were like the zoo keepers' (Sadam) helpers. I agree totally with Kevin P. Iraq was a dream with Sadam, Uday, and Kusay.

  • Posted By: Kevin P. @ 08/21/2008 3:52:36 PM

    Comment: I find it amazing how bigoted and racist the average American is. America cheered on this war and was all to happy to have a direct hand in the destruction of an Arab society. US troops have turned Iraq into their playground and they have destroyed the social fabric of an entire nation. The US invasion and occupation of Iraq has caused nothing but chaos. US has imposed its brutal volition on the entire Iraqi nation while operating in the least humane manner. Iraq has been turned into a place where US soldiers murder and abuse freely to the detriment of the entire Iraqi nation.

    • Posted By: MoJabar @ 08/21/2008 4:34:22 PM

      Comment: True indeed, Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites were so harmonious under Sadam. Does Sadam have any relatives who'd be interested in his old job. It takes a heavy handed tyrant to keep Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites from tearing one another's heads off. Just look at what's left of the Golden Dome Mosque. Lovely sweet Arab Muslim people....I'm not sure if Iraqs Sunnis and Shiites are more Mother Theresa or more Ghandi when it comes to peace and harmony.

  • Posted By: Kevin P. @ 08/21/2008 3:17:27 PM

    Comment: You are forgetting that it was the US that ILLEGALLY invaded, occupied, and destroyed Iraq after having already suffered as a result of decades of US initiated isolation and sanctions. I say to hell with the USA and its ignorant people for supporting the war in the first place. The US has become a belligerent Sparta with a collective demeanor of belligerence and deadly arrogance which has become a bane to the entire civilized world. The US initiated a war against and engaged in the occupation of a sovereign people based on a set of lies and blatant fabrications. Punishment is well overdue.

    • Posted By: summer4077 @ 08/21/2008 3:43:12 PM

      Comment: You're assuming all of America supported the war. Many did not. The war is extremely unpopular right now, also. I never supported it and cringed when we invaded. I have no military experience and even *I* saw the fiasco coming. So, blame the ignorant top brass, not the people.

  • Posted By: MoJabar @ 08/21/2008 2:44:32 PM

    Comment: No girls allowed?! Are our tax dollars paying for some kind of all male homosexual entertainment?

  • Posted By: anngw @ 08/21/2008 12:50:24 PM

    Comment: I am unimpressed. Is this what John McCain thinks that are tax dollars should be spent on?

  • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 08/21/2008 5:58:06 AM

    Comment: The US army has destroyed so many things in Iraq, what is so big deal with a few pools! Come on you are insulting so many people's intelligence! This is a really sick article, written in bad faith. Newsweek has gone so low that it cannot differentiate between praises and insults.

  • Posted By: aboutmedicine @ 08/21/2008 1:51:45 AM

    Comment: TIBETAN MASSAGE
    Have a good tonic effect on blood circulation... http://traditional-medicine-traditional.blogspot.com/2008/08/tibetan-massage.html

  • Posted By: fordfedup @ 08/20/2008 5:47:28 PM

    Comment: IIt disgusts me! Over $1,000,000.00`to refurbish Iraqi swimming pools, and the Iraqis have about $100,000,000,000.00 surplus revenue, from oil they have sold since we have spent untold billions of our tax money to rebuild their country---are we the dumbest nation on earth or what?

    • Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 08/20/2008 7:40:18 PM

      Comment: No kidding. Look what we spent on Woodstock and teacup museums right here.

  • Posted By: taxed_out @ 08/20/2008 4:31:45 PM

    Comment: This is wonderful. One step at a time...

  • Posted By: RESCUESSGT @ 08/20/2008 3:37:39 PM

    Comment: If you dont like what the US is doing in other places of the world and think that they have it better over there then you do here. Move over there and quit complaining. No one is making you stay in America. Your ability to stay is just as equal as your ability to leave.

  • Posted By: lm68127 @ 08/20/2008 3:24:32 PM

    Comment: I simply cannot celebrate this until girls are allowed

    • Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 08/20/2008 7:42:53 PM

      Comment: Of course,it may be useful to point out here that we sponsor such segregation right here in the US,and on the taxpayer dime to boot,bowing to ''religious''sensitivities,no less.

  • Posted By: atradingplace @ 08/20/2008 3:23:17 PM

    Comment: Hey, you are correct fedup123, it is freedom of speech and unfortunately for you, I have the same discussion box to enter my comments as you do. Isn't it great!!!!!! :)

  • Posted By: atradingplace @ 08/20/2008 3:17:40 PM

    Comment: I am sure it was a pleasure and fulfilling change for our military men and women to give those children something our children find so enjoyable during the hot summer days here in America. We still take so much for granted in this country and overall we are truly fortunate and blessed. Good job!!!!! Hoorah!!!!!!

  • Posted By: atradingplace @ 08/20/2008 3:12:06 PM

    Comment: I think it was a pleasure and fulfilling change for our military men and women to help the children of that country enjoy what our children find so enjoyable. We certainly take a lot for granted and our country is still very blessed and fortunate overall. Hoorah!!!!!!

  • Posted By: fedup123 @ 08/20/2008 2:58:02 PM

    Comment: this just shows how dumb americans are,using money on pools when our economy is going down the drain.this is just stupid,when our own people need medical,food,housing etc in our own country.their over there spending our hard earn tax money on nonsence this is pathic.

  • Posted By: joleneanita @ 08/20/2008 2:49:43 PM

    Comment: My question is how often do you (tolerantgirl) open your pockets to help all of these misfortunate people here in America? Being a middle class family we work hard for what we have and are amongst some of those who have been hardest hit by the economic crisis, but I do open my pockets as often as I can. I applaud the military and all of their efforts no matter how frivolous they may see to most.

  • Posted By: vorpax @ 08/20/2008 2:42:56 PM

    Comment: This is money well spent. Yes we communities where some of our kids don't have access to a public swimming pool so step up and help out your communitie and help fund raise write congress to approve the project. Not only was opening the pool a great good will jesture it was also a great intel and military move. Kids are seen and not heard. They are also the futchure of the world they will remeber that we helpped rebuild and the pool. They will be the ones to see the soilder and warn them or in thanking them let something vital slip.

  • Posted By: hailjac @ 08/20/2008 2:42:28 PM

    Comment: it is amazing all that we do for others. my son is on his 3rd tour of iraq and guess how many times he gets to swim? only if he comes home for his 2 weeks of r & r and only if it is summer. he is there for 15 months and guess what? the temperature is usually around 120 to 130 and he is in full body gear. lets get the hell out of there and let them stand up for themselves. we have done our part. bring my child home for good and let him swim on american soil with family and friends, it is time

  • Posted By: dman5000 @ 08/20/2008 2:40:46 PM

    Comment: As a country we must pray for the unfortunate. This could easily have been you or I living in this war torn country. It's just by God's plan that we were born in America. I don't know what I would do if I spent my day listening to the sounds of gun fire and surrounded by suicide bombers. I know our country is in need as well, but my heart bleeds for these people who will never know the freedoms we enjoy every day.

  • Posted By: opensable @ 08/20/2008 2:35:06 PM

    Comment: So, do we have any girls, let alone women, enjoying this pool?

  • Posted By: tolerantgirl @ 08/20/2008 2:19:22 PM

    Comment: I am shocled that we are spending all this money in Iraq on swimming pools. There are so many communities in the United States where children do not have access to public schools. What about are inner city communities. The people in inner city communities need pools, community centers, libraries, etc....Who cares that is 120 degrees in Iraq? Wake up America!!! There are people in America who can get to work because they can't afford gas, there are parents with children who are struggling to put food on the table, there are elderly people who must choose between filling their life-sustaining prescriptions and food, and there are people who have no medical insurance. And we are spending how much money on a POOL in IIRAQ!!!!! Honestly, the leaders of this country have their priorities screwed up.

  • Posted By: jpsabby @ 08/20/2008 2:17:45 PM

    Comment: we must remember that after years of fighting, that these are very large steps to take in a war ravaged country . The Ability to open a pool for the children is very commendable... In time maybe women will have their own pools to swim in.. we must remember the cultural differences, and gives props to the military for its success in Iraq rather than to point out its failures

  • Posted By: panhandle @ 08/20/2008 1:42:42 PM

    Comment: Lots of kids in U.S. neighborhoods could use a pool. If the military is so hell-bent to open a pool, let them open one in Philadelphia or Kansas City, The hell with Iraq. We have spent too much $ there already.

    • Posted By: bbmj @ 08/20/2008 2:07:07 PM

      Comment: nice, after making road side bombs all night a place to relax...................

  • Posted By: roscojim @ 08/20/2008 1:29:08 PM

    Comment: Wonderful - swimming is available, but only if you are male. Until venues are open to all, Iraq will continue to be a pitiful excuse for a country that we should not even be wasting our time or lives with.

  • Posted By: GeorginaKlanica @ 08/20/2008 1:28:18 PM

    Comment: Were the drownings investigated to ensure they were accidents and not murders? Also, I don't think the pools should have been opened at all if women weren't permitted access to be inside or to swim. That alone will make it safer because women will be keeping an eye on their kids, like women worldwide have done since the beginning of time.

  • Posted By: roscojim @ 08/20/2008 1:27:23 PM

    Comment: Wonderful - swimming is available, but women and girls can't go. Until they allow that, Iraq will continue to be a backwards, worthless piece of crap country.

  • Posted By: elyse @ 08/20/2008 12:59:31 PM

    Comment: I think the US citizens need to understand that to win the war in Iraq it does take winning the people to a new world view that values life. This is a fantastic way to allow the troops to be a part of a positive influence in the life of the Iraqi people, especially the young. Watch Charlie Wilson's War if you want a Hollywood's version of what happens when we win the war (anonymously) and lose the people.

    • Posted By: dman5000 @ 08/20/2008 2:40:31 PM

      Comment: As a country we must pray for the unfortunate. This could easily have been you or I living in this war torn country. It's just by God's plan that we were born in America. I don't know what I would do if I spent my day listening to the sounds of gun fire and surrounded by suicide bombers. I know our country is in need as well, but my heart bleeds for these people who will never know the freedoms we enjoy every day.

  • Posted By: PennBoy @ 08/20/2008 12:57:45 PM

    Comment: What a bunch of whiny knuckleheads. First the blatant hope for failure of any sort in Iraq by the reporter who probably never served his country or sacrificed for anything in his life except for a flawed utopian cause. And then those who comment about wasting money while they sit in their cozy little armchairs eating popcorn watching a tv which is as big as their world view. I'm glad we have leaders in now with the fortitude to lead rather than chase the ever changing whims of whiny defeatists, which is the reason we were vulnerable in the first place.

  • Posted By: newshawk08 @ 08/20/2008 11:23:16 AM

    Comment: Great news their swimming again, while Americans are swimming in red ink. Time to bring the troops home or make the Iraq government pay for the free police service our troops are performing.

  • Posted By: FATJOEY @ 08/20/2008 8:37:11 AM

    Comment: NO NEED TO BUILD A POOL FOR WOMEN,JUST TELL THE BOYS THEY HAVE THE POOL ON ODD DAYS,WOMEN ON EVEN DAYS!

  • Posted By: summer4077 @ 08/20/2008 7:56:32 AM

    Comment: Every time I read stories like this, I can't help but imagine how far 1.1 million would go toward community activities for American kids, or how far it would go towards a school here. I'm saddened that America is crumbling while we shovel money into silly things like opening swimming pools for foreign countries.

    • Posted By: Akmatic @ 08/20/2008 8:36:44 AM

      Comment: Just think, we're eventually going to wind up wasting about 2-4 TRILLION dollars in Iraq before we're even remotely close to being ready to leave....just imagine what that money could've gone towards in the US.

  • Posted By: homeschooler @ 08/20/2008 7:51:19 AM

    Comment: What about the girls? Your telling me some of this money couldn't have been spent on opening a pool just for women and girls.....this is frustrating, not only because it's unfair because it's our money doing this, AMERICAN money. I thought the Iraqis had plenty of oil money coming in, so why isn't the Iraq government giving some of it to our military to build good works projects?

  • Posted By: FATJOEY @ 08/20/2008 7:35:26 AM

    Comment: I BET THEY FOUND A FEW TURDS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL TOO! MUSLIM ANIMALS!

    • Posted By: dman5000 @ 08/20/2008 2:43:44 PM

      Comment: God bless you. Judgement day is coming. Repent from your sins and remove the hatred for your heart.

  • Posted By: Silentmajority @ 08/19/2008 10:25:34 PM

    Comment: To rif242242:
    It cannot be helped. What we are reading is NEWSWEEK, after all.

  • Posted By: klemeci @ 08/19/2008 9:44:18 PM

    Comment: Why are our tax dollars supporting this when only male Iraqis are allowed in the pools? I understand it may be their culture. So tell us, what is the CERP funds doing for female Iraqis?

  • Posted By: linaalattar @ 08/19/2008 8:57:06 PM

    Comment: If you want to 'win the hearts and minds' of the Iraqi people, how about not bombming them. How about having a strategy of NOT opening it's borders to the terrirists in the first place. The United States was clueless of Iraqi culture, military, neighbors, and issues when it went into Iraq. " The U.S. military helped reopen several public pools"....wow, we're so impressed.

    • Posted By: noteworthy69 @ 08/28/2008 9:06:11 AM

      Comment: I do believe you might have benefitted from some schooling especially in the spelling department. While I was reading your post I was thinking "what an idiot" and as I saw all of your spelling errors I realized that not only are you an idiot but an uneducated one at that. Please do us all a favor and throw away your voter registration card because your vote should not count in the election of a local dog catcher let alone one determining the leader of the free world.

  • Posted By: rif242242 @ 08/19/2008 7:25:31 PM

    Comment: I'm getting so sick of Newsweek's stories coming out of Iraq. Other websites have been telling of the leaps and bounds there, meanwhile Newsweak (as usual) spends more time talking about the negative aspects of the improvements instead of actually providing updates of the improvements in the security and the lives of the Iraqi people. Shame on you Newsweak, get a clue of what your job is, and that is journalism without some kind of political objective. Once again spending more time on the negative aspect of story coming out of Iraq then the topic of the story itself.... Seriously when it comes to Iraq this rag refuses to run a positive story.

    • Posted By: fedup123 @ 08/20/2008 3:16:46 PM

      Comment: rit242242,if you don't like whats said logoff.freedom of speech is still here.i think there should be more of these sites so the real americans can take back whats rightfully ours mainly our hard earn money.so take your butt to another site.

      • Posted By: Inyourface @ 08/22/2008 3:17:38 AM

        Comment: Uh, do you recall how you got that freedom of speech? Look back at what you were supposed to learn at school. Guess what, here's a clue. You got your freedom of speech to spew your garbage at the rest of us courtesy of the U.S. military! Another thing: We all have that right, including the right to argue back at you! And here's another clue: It took a "WAR" to do it! That's right, that dirty little 3 letter word some of you hate! allergic to


 
 
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