Iraq and Afghanistan War Cost 10 years on

[Dinner]

Yes - and any particular Iraqi dish you like? I am sure you already said that somewhere, but I don't think I read that before.

I'm a sucker for the classics. Stuff like Masgouf (whole carp cooked over an open wood fire using sticks to prop up the fish so that no grill is needed to cook it), Kleicha (I'm not sure about the spelling but that's how it is pronounced. It's like a cinnamon roll but with date filling), the Asyrrian/Chaldean (they're the same thing with just minor religious differences) stuffed vegetables (where minced pickled vegetables, Bulger wheat, and spices are stuffed in peppers, eggplant, onions and tomatoes, then quickly braised in olive oil and sprinkled with powdered sumac), not to mention the traditional lamb with spiced saffron rice and flat bread (usually they add a bunch of other stuff to the rice, lemon juice, spices, and then serve the whole thing with a garlic yogurt sauce). Most of those are simple but tasty and can be had pretty cheaply. Of course falafals are big there too and like kabobs make up most of the street food.

Oh, and there are all the usual pan-Arab dishes but I was speaking about the ones specific to Iraq.

[Dinner]

Assyrian food is pretty much the same as the rest of Iraq & Syria but the main differences are the inclusion of pork into recipes and the fact that most villages grow their own grapes and produce wine. My impression of their wine wasn't all that favorable as it tended to be very sweet, too sweet really, as instead of growing wine grapes most of them grew table grapes to sell to the local Muslim population and then they'd make wine from the juice.

Oh, and though the west has seemingly learned about the Armenian genocide the fact is the Ottomans tried to kill off all of the Assyrians & Chaldean (they're the same people and they speak the same language, which is based on Aramaic but the Chaldean are in communion with the Catholic Church while the Assyrians retain the eastern rites) at the same time also because they were Christians so it is a real forgotten genocide.

[Dinner]

Oh, I forgot. Try Fasangoon, which is chicken in a pomegranate and walnut sauce, though I have seen quail versions of fasangoon at some of the local Iraqi restaurants. Usually they serve it with those purple pickled vegetables, some kind of rice (there are lots of different options on the rice), three or four different sauces, and some sort of salad. I found "summag" to be popular but it is essentially identical to the balkan cucumber salad I had so often in the former Yugoslavia. The Iraqi Christian places also serve alcoholic drinks with beer being popular but the traditional drink being Arak which is very similar to Ouzo in Greece or Raki in the Balkans. For non-alcoholic drinks (besides the ever present tea) there was this fruit juice yogurt mix which had rose petals floating it but I forget the name.

[Egbert]

Hang on. Moby, I thought you hated Christians?

Am I mistaken?

[PLATO]

Thanks! I will look for that somewhere... if I ever come across it, will try to ressurect this thread.

Speaking of old threads...anyone have a link to Oerdin's Iraq blog...I am sure it is probably buried in the archive somewhere.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Great stuff - thanks!

and that Iraq blog thread was one of the best ever we had here... should be stickied.

[PLATO]

that Iraq blog thread was one of the best ever we had here... should be stickied.

I totally agree. Where is RP when we need him?

[Egbert]

Yes you are indeed mistaken, as is usually the case.

Aww shucks. Thanks Moby. Your implicit admission that I am not always mistaken is the nicest thing you have ever said to me.

[Zevico]

I would also blog that post, Braindead, but I just don't give a damn.

[Egbert]

Good point Zev. This is a poly OT First. Moby said something nice! Well, nice by Moby standards.

Must be plenty of the finest smoking weed in Wales at the moment.

[Dinner]

There are a lot of vets like this guy and worse it now takes 2 ****ing years for a vet just to sign up for the VA benefits to see a damn doctor yet Republicans want still more cuts.

[Egbert]

There are a lot of vets like this guy and worse it now takes 2 ****ing years for a vet just to sign up for the VA benefits to see a damn doctor yet Republicans want still more cuts.

HC would approve.

HC loves the idea of cutting benefits.

[Zevico]

HC would approve.

HC loves the idea of cutting benefits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGnE83A1Z4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNMVMNmrqJE

[Hauldren Collider]

The VA does in fact cover too much. For instance, the fact that Slowwy is still living off VA benefits is absurd. He sure as hell never got a combat wound, at least as far as I'm aware.

I do think that we have a responsibility to cover disabled veterans (who are disabled due to their service) for the rest of their lives.

[regexcellent]

VA benefits are insane. Lots of people get a 10% rating for minor hearing loss. You should get them if your injuries prevent you from working, not as some ridiculous form of lifelong workplace compensation for the injuries.