I'd do it!
Hey, if they wanna offer me a free holiday in return for some publicity, I'd love to go.
Iraq is attempting what must rate as the biggest PR challenge since Nicolas Sarkozy ordered French media to convince the world he's actually six inches taller - that of enticing western tourists to sample the delights of the sun-kissed land astride the Tigris. This unenviable task has fallen to Hammoud al-Yaqoubi, chairman of …
Not in this lifetime it won't be. Iraq will be a tourist destination when the worst a tourist can suffer will be inflated prices from local merchants.
Until then, Iraq is a place when you can be knifed, shot, kidnapped for ransom, blown to bits by various methods, and other such joyful pastimes. I like my tourism without such happenings, and without military escort either.
I also find the people going on these thrill rides to be extremely obnoxious, flaunting their wealth and ignorance in the face of an oppressed population. Doesn't strike me as decent to be a tourist in Iraq now.
I was in Iraq doing a banking system during the first gulf war (Iran vs Iraq) and the tourism was absolutely fabulous.
Babylon has been excessively done up by the late monster, but it's still pretty impressive -- fragments of brick and tile with cuneiform writing underfoot.
Warka/Uruk is left pretty much undisturbed since it was excavated by Germans before the 1st (world) war -- you approach it across plains ruined by salt, and the first glimpse is the huge piles of potsherd. It was inhabited six thousand years ago, Gilgamesh lived there, and I have never encounted such a sense of intimacy with the deep past. You'd need to check that the bridge had been repaired.
Ur was an army base when I was there, but if you drove past slowly and cautiously, you could peep at the ziggurat where, in theory, Abraham's father worshipped.
It might be wise to stay away from Shia holy sites generally for a while and the Najaf shrines were badly bombed by Sunnis so they won't be what they were, but there's a lot to see if you're interested in Islamic art.
Just south of Babylon you have astonishing alexandrene ruins called Ctesiphon. Out in the western desert there's the huge fortress called Ukkhadir (sp. sorry) which is a very mysterious place indeed and leaves you feeling that you'll never lose the taste of limestone on your lips. On the way back there was a modern resort on the banks of a reservoir -- I wonder if that's still there.
Baghdad itself was rather comprehensively done over by the huns in 14-something so there's little left of the caliphate but the museums (Baghdad and Iraqi national) are something else. I hope that Schliemann's (I think it was him) Babylonian treasures are intact.
I never got a chance to go north, but Nineveh and Mosul are apparently well worth a look.
Just saying the names ought to be enough: Nineveh and Uruk, Babylon and Ur. But if you want a reason for a techy to go, how about pointing out that these were the civilisations which invented the 60-second minute or the 60-minute degree (I didn't say you had to like them...) or (in cuneiform) non-pictographic writing?
OK -- if you want to lounge on a beach and pick up a bit of wossname from catford, it's not ideal, but to plant your feet a little more securely as a citizen of Earth it's probably essential. Beat the crowd.
when i was there this spring, and a friend went with a group and loved it. Going around is a bit difficult I'll give you that, but if you go with an official agency you should be OK. And Iraqis do not practice price gouging in my experience, they are to proud to stoop to that (they might take a tip tastefully presented though).
I strongly recommend Iran too, their official travel agency is actually pretty good. Avoid unofficial taxis though, they WILL screw you over prices. Any official place doesn't do that (or they lose their jobs), anywhere else you're on your own.
Step off the airplane in Iraq and take a Deep Breath of their US...DU (Depleted Uranium) saturated air.
One thing for sure, if they don't kill you during your visit, the DU will get you years after as a reminderand should you decide to have children after being there, don't be shocked when they have three eyes and feet growing out of the head.
Go in a flash as long as the M4 and ammo are included in the price, and they got a good arangement with an insurer. Not with the intent to use it, but just in case of course. I can't see the yanks wanting to play tour guide so it'd probably be necessary. No offence intended to the Iraqi's but they'd probably be the first to admit their security forces are probably crawling with the kind of people you wouldn't want in your *security* forces.