We Agree! Iraq Sucks as Spring Break Destination

February 8, 2012

Tags: Green Zone, Spring Break, Travel Warning, US Citizen Targets
Posted in: Embassy/State, Iraq

The State Department and I don’t seem to agree on too many things about Iraq, but with the release of the newest Travel Warning for that happy land, I think we have found common ground. State warns Americans:

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Iraq given the dangerous security situation. Civilian air and road travel within Iraq remains dangerous… to remind U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns for U.S. citizens in Iraq, including kidnapping and terrorist violence… The ability of the Embassy to respond to situations in which U.S. citizens face difficulty, including arrests, is extremely limited.

Some regions within Iraq have experienced fewer violent incidents than others in recent years, in particular the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. However,violence and threats against U.S. citizens persist and no region should be considered safe from dangerous conditions. Threats of attack against U.S. citizen targets throughout Iraq continue, including in the International (or “Green”) Zone (IZ) of Baghdad.

(Insert your own ironic statement here about how this is the situation after nine years of war, $63 billion in reconstruction costs and 4479 American deaths, I’m tapped out)

Planning Spring Break in Baghdad? Note there is no Senor Frog’s there. Prices are however cheap, but better read the whole Travel Warning first before paying for those non-refundable tickets.

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