The Eyes Are the Windows At Cairo airport all the continental Europeans disembark the Lufthansa flight. They don't fly on to Kuwait. For many reasons, they don't go to Iraq. Remaining are a few soldiers - British and US - and contractors, the men who build things and supply the army. These are the front line workers. The contractors are lonely men. Photos of wives and families are kept close to hand. The Europeans drank a goodly amount of alcohol on their leg of the flight. The contractors didn't. Few talked. Most slept. Some read Bibles. One grasped his to himself, the way that most of the other men clutched their cigarettes on arrival at the Kuwait airport, the one international airport where smoking is encouraged. They all needed something to hold onto. Some find better things than others. Their eyes tell the tale. Some have seen too much, gazing coldly at another hostile land. Other young eyes are wide open, amazed and fearful -- living with the fear of working in Iraq. Some say they are doing it to help rebuild the country, to make it a better place for Iraqis and to give them a chance. Others are more straightforward; they tell everyone they work for the money. Some men are starting out. Some are starting over - for the second, third or fourth time. Marriages are often shredded by long international postings. Their eyes bespeak absence of any illusions. Some eyes are set in weathered faces -- faces that have squinted into many foreign suns, faces lined with experiences yielding little more than interesting stories. And the eyes, eyes that search for meaning, like the eyes of Arabs scanning the desert . . . for signs of life. James Clark ============================================================== (c) 2004 Millennium Relief & Development Services, vol. 4 no. 'Insight' is a publication of MRDS to interpret current events in light of the experience of members of our international network. 'Insight' archives and other information can be found on our website. 'Insight' may be freely copied with this citation. If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, simply reply and request to be removed. Millennium RDS, 5116 Bissonnet #358, Bellaire, TX 77401-4007 Tel: (713)961-5645 Fax: (713)961-5735 www.mrds.org insight@mrds.org