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‘Greetings from Baghdad,’ sort of...

Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 8:15 AM
Filed Under:

By Kiko Itasaka, NBC News Producer

Baghdad isn't the best place for consumer therapy, but in moments of desperation, near the NBC News bureau here there is one small dusty shop selling alleged antiques, dusty carpets, and tattered post cards.

About a month ago, I bought some cards and decided it would be fun to send one to Petra Cahill, the msnbc.com World Blog editor in New York.

The postcard sent from Baghdad to New York on Sept. 19 was scanned before it was dropped in the mail.

My first step was to determine whether or not the postal system actually works in Baghdad.

Apparently like many government services, it does function, some of the time. It turns out there are 83 post offices in Baghdad and a total of 420 mailmen. These brave men travel the streets of this city by motorcycle, on bicycle, and on foot.

They deliver when they can, but often abandon their duties because many neighborhoods are still too dangerous. The mailmen do not have extra security or uniforms. There are no real statistics on just how much post is actually delivered.

And there are no mail boxes on the streets here. If you want to send a letter or package you have to go to the post office in person. Within Baghdad, Iraqis tend to deliver everything by hand.

Postcard sent from Iraq: "Dear Petra, Greetings from Baghdad. I wonder if this postcard will ever arrive in New York?!? Kiko"

For security reasons, I was unable to go to the Baghdad main post office. Instead I asked an Iraqi colleague to go on my behalf, and for $1.50 he launched my card on its journey around the world on Sept. 19.

I have no idea what route it will take, what countries it will encounter. I am not at all sure it will ever reach its final destination, but I would like to think that my postcard from the edge will make the long journey from Baghdad to New York. I certainly hope so.

As of Oct. 21, the postcard had not reached our msnbc.com offices at 30 Rock - Petra 

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Comments

A colleague of mine mailed a postcard from Oman and it took 6months to show up at our office.  So , I guess Baghdad is not the only area having issues.

Katie Cada Ft.Laud.FL (Sent Tuesday, October 21, 2008 11:37 AM)

I don't think that getting the postal system to work was worth the 4,000 plus of our military that died, or the deaths of all the innocent iraquis and the displacement of many of the citizens of that country. This was a cool experiment nonetheless.  

David Bronx (Sent Tuesday, October 21, 2008 4:53 PM)

I lived in Clinton, IA and my parents lived in DeWitt, Ia (19 miles from Clinton)  It took 6 months for a letter to go that 19 miles!  In another instance, I mailed a payment from one Dallas, TX zip code to another Dallas,TX zip code.  It only took 10 days to get there.  And I mailed an SBC payment to Dallas, TX.  I got called about 2 weeks later saying they had not received my payment.  I sent an overnite letter to Dallas.  It took 5 days for the overnite letter to get there and my original payment showed up the day before the overnight letter did!   Carol - Missouri

Carol Sowders, Springfield, MO (Sent Tuesday, October 21, 2008 5:02 PM)

If my parents send me any mail/parcel from south asia, T get that in 3 weeks!I sleep on it for that long, and after that I worry about loosing it, lol.

dallas (Sent Tuesday, October 21, 2008 5:54 PM)

Since the Soviet collapse most of the 15 Republics dont have government postal services.

Arman Glendale, CA (Sent Tuesday, October 21, 2008 6:08 PM)

I live in South Korea and I normally get my mail delivered to my APO address here in about 10 days.  

Matt, Waegwan, South Korea (Sent Wednesday, October 22, 2008 12:54 AM)

Easier to send a picture by email.  Baghdad is changing for the better so fast that it is hard to keep up.  Having been here for 5 years I am just amazed by the changes but very happy to see it happening.

Doug, Baghdad, Iraq (Sent Wednesday, October 22, 2008 1:17 AM)

At least our military mail system in Iraq works.  While I was there on my combat tour in 2003 I would order books and other items online through Amazon and it would take anywhere from 7-14 days.  Not bad considering that I was in the middle of a war zone. The three most important things to the morale of troops is hot food, pay, and mail.  The military does a good job of ensuring that these are fulfilled and goes to great measures to make this happen.  

Joe, Honolulu HI (Sent Wednesday, October 22, 2008 2:39 AM)

The war in Iraq should end now. The enormous amount of money spent on this war could help America's economy.
Our mail service would even improve.

Margie SLC, UT (Sent Wednesday, October 22, 2008 5:38 AM)

Margie SLC, UT... This isnt a forum for how you feel about the war. You are probably the on relying on the goverment to pay your way through life. David Bronx...You insult me and all those who stand beside me and wear this uniform.  This sacrifice we all have chosen to make is so that a country has hope and doesnt live their life everyday in fear. Kiko, I hope for the sake of the system that this works.  Baghdad is a beautiful city, rich in History and culture.  I hope all our army is doing here is enough to make the difference.

SPC R, Baghdad, Iraq (Sent Wednesday, October 22, 2008 9:01 AM)

Isn't it nice how you smug, self important, jerks can turn a pretty neat story into something it isn't? This was about a post card from Irag. Yes 4,000 servicemen have died. Two young men have died that I personally knew. I was scared for them and I didn't like that they were in harms way. That was MY feeling. They had a different idea. They chastised me am asked my why I thought I had the right to determine thier futures. They told me I was belittling thier hard fought achievements. The soldiers were not drafted. They enlisted and fought for what they believed in and for thier country. So many of you can't say the same. You ought to be ashamed of yourselfs.

As for this story. Neat idea. When the post card arrives, be sure to put that on the front page of MSN too.

Reggie Barker (Sent Wednesday, October 22, 2008 9:19 AM)

Hi:

I thank you Kiko for your effort to test the Iraqis trust and their mails delivery across the world. Well !! I am glad that you have recieved your card. You are right in saying that there is no home mail delivery in Iraq now. But what is delivering your letter means, it means that most of the Iraqis are innocent, peacfull and reliable people. That Iraq is an ancient country, one day have documented to the world the reading and righting. The new Iraq of today needs an attention from every country of the world. There are so many work resources avialble in that country which in my believe is enough to break up the current recession of the world economy. But how to do it ? the Amricans are trying their best to bring up that country on its feet once again, but that is not enough, all other countries in the world need to do the same not just looking at the show waiting for the invitation to the dinner. They have to stop Iran from influencing the internal affairs in Iraq and its religeous leaders decision. The Iraqis are now ready to live in peace in this world after they have devastated in 40 years of wars. One thing I know that the stopping of killing in the street of Baghdad is fragile and will return if the world do not know how to play this ball. I would love you to have delivered your card from a mail box in the street of Baghdad, but that is still a long way to go !!

ZFR, Atlanta -Georgia (Sent Wednesday, October 22, 2008 11:14 AM)



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