In Focus: Dust Storms

Since the last week of June, we've had ten or eleven dust storms.  Some of these storms have been so bad, the dust so thick, that you couldn't see beyond 200 feet in front of you.  

Before I came to Iraq, during my stay in Kuwait, we had a sand storm.  The difference between a sand storm and a dust storm is you can feel the sand in a sand storm.  The dust in a dust storm you don't feel.  You can smell it and taste it and it grates on your teeth.  But you can't feel it. 

The dust is reddish orange in color and fine like talcum powder.   It seeps through crevices, finding its way into living quarters.  After 8 straight days of dust storms, my a/c filter was completely coated in dust.  I cleaned it the week before.

When Vice President Biden visited, he did an interview with George Stephanopoulos on the patio of Gen. Odierno's quarters.  By the time the interview was done, in less than ten minutes, our eyebrows, eyelashes and hair looked like someone dusted us with orange powdered sugar.

While waiting outside of Gen. Odierno's office the other day, I talked with the Iraqi Minister of Justice, who was also waiting.  We discussed the dust storms.  He has lived here all his life and does not recall dust storms like we've experienced in the past few weeks.  Many speculate that the 5 year drought Iraq has experienced is the main culprit behind the storms.

They say we can't bring dirt or rocks with us when we redeploy to the U.S.   Make no mistake about it, whether I want to or not, I will be bringing Iraqi dust with me to Virginia.