From Turkey To Damascus (And Back Again)

For my money (which, when it comes to reading blogs, is of course nothing), Hannah Allam tells some of the best stories about life and culture in the Middle East. Check out this report on Iraqi interpreter "MAK," who worked with the United States Army -- and then feared for his life in Baghdad, because of the possibility of retribution from anti-US insurgents. After failing to find a legal way out of the Middle East, MAK -- now living quietly in Damascus -- paid $6,000 to a Turkish smuggler who promised to arrange transport to Istanbul, and then into Greece. The result of this gamble may be predictable; the story is not.