Hello from Bdad on the eve of the election. Just now, Reuters and CNN are reporting a rocket strike on the Embassy. I didn't hear the boom, but apparently something hit the end of the Palace far away from my office. There were casualties. Details are very sketchy, but the takeaway message is that I am fine.

Ironically, in the context of that bad news, the mood in the city is very good. Iraqi political and elections people, and even our military folks, have an oddly good feeling about tomorrow. (Maybe it's not odd. Maybe it's just that we've forgotten about good feelings around here.) No one is predicting huge voter turnout, but the city was very calm today - wrapped in the snug blanket of heavy security and curfews - and hope is in the air. Soldiers on patrol reported Iraqis waving to them just like they did right after the fall of Saddam. My contacts in local government are excited to vote, and at the same time edgy about what might happen. If tomorrow goes half as well as people think it will, Iraqis will have taken a big step towards running their own government and getting us out of here.

My mood is also good. I just returned from a blissful three week vacation in India with my brother and sis-in-law. Despite the fact that my principal destination was a city (Madras aka Chennai) that was hit pretty hard by the tsunami, India turned out to be a great place for a vacation. It was a complete escape from Iraq. A billion people who just don't care about Iraq, or the US for that matter. A billion people who weren't trying to behead me, or even pick my pocket. A billion people who have created some of the yummiest food on the planet, and who sell it cheap. India was a great, easy, nice place to be a tourist and a fun place to be hugely well-cared-for by my family. For my sis-in-law's splendiferous illustrated trip report, see http://www.aforadventure.com/roadtrip2005!.html . As you'll guess from the pictures, the 48 hours that we spent on a houseboat in the Kerala backwaters of SW India was the highlight of the trip.

That's all for now. More after the election.

wish you were here,
Rob