Naked in Baghdad by Anne Garrels

Author:Anne Garrels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2011-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

BRENDA BULLETIN: MARCH 17, 2003

A most welcome call this afternoon. Brenda is well, on her toes, thinking smart, and moving fast, if only to stay a jump ahead of the rumors that swirl like dust.

She phoned in good spirits but guarded, to say that all the remaining foreign journalists have now been moved to the Palestine Hotel for “safety.” She would not or could not say how many there were other than “a lot.” She had smartly reserved a room in the Palestine after leaving the Al-Rashid en route to the Al-Hamra early last week. She did so to insure that her room had the right orientation for her satellite phone. She talked quickly, quietly, and without lights on so that her antenna would not be spotted. She did say that the Palestine is located “across the river” and that it appears to be in a “safer” neighborhood. But she’s seen better accommodations. Then again, she’s also seen worse.

I asked for the phone number in the room. “Well, I can’t tell you. There is no number listed here in the room. I’d have to go downstairs and ask, and I can’t do that.” “Why?” I asked. “Because I’m naked.” “Naked? Why naked?” She explained that there was another rumor that the secret police were running a sweep of the hotel, looking for illegal satellite phones, and she figured that if a naked woman just out of the shower answered a knock at the door, she might stand a chance.

She has been reunited with the most important asset she could have: a smart and good driver called Amer, the same one she had on her first trip. In the meantime he had been working for some Japanese reporters, but they have all gone home. With his help, Brenda’s room is now stashed with crates of bottled water and long-life milk, a lifetime supply of Kit Kats, and trash cans full of tap water for bathing. So there she is on the 6th floor, well-stocked with her dozen yet-to-be-embroidered pillowcases, waiting for what is to happen to happen.

Just to be clear: Annie has been on the Brenda Bulletin list up to this point and, as I wrote recently, she rather enjoyed seeing herself transmogrified into a comic-book character. But I sense, at least for the moment, that this situation might become something quite different. Given the stuff I am seeing on TV—that the Iraqi decision to move the journalists to a central location could be a prelude to taking them hostage—I have decided to take her off the list and drop the use of Brenda. She doesn’t need to hear any more rumors from here. She has enough of her own. I have no idea whether she will be allowed to stay. I have no idea what NPR has counseled, but I will talk to them tomorrow. I do know that as of several days ago, she felt her chances were better in a Baghdad bathtub with her Kit Kats than in a convoy of journalists trying to make their way to the border.

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