By:Jeff Lipton
Schnaible, 41, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force in Europe, where he is deputy director of public affairs, volunteered for his mission in Iraq. He has been helping to prepare the government for elections on Jan. 30. The 1981 Hewlett High graduate has been working 14- to 18-hour days with the multinational forces operating in the international zone, also known as the Green Zone, since Sept. 28.
Along with other American and Iraqi diplomats and officials, Schnaible is staying in Saddam Hussein's old palace. As a public affairs official, he has helped explain the changing Iraqi government to a worldwide press corps, assisting reporters from such newspapers as the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
Schnaible, a member the Hewlett High School Hall of Fame, has been working with the State Department as part of the U.S. team trying to rebuild Iraq's war-torn government. "I keep the news media informed about what is going on with the reconstruction," he said.
The Green Zone, supposed to be one of the safest areas of Iraq, has failed to live up to that claim. Although security is extremely tight around the zone, a roughly 4-square-mile area in Baghdad surrounded by a 30-foot-high cement wall, mortar attacks by insurgents have been constant, including a close call for Schnaible last Thursday.
"It's been pretty bad over here," he said in a phone interview last Friday from his office. "The [explosion last Thursday] was pretty close. When your windows rattle, you know it's close.
"Everyone over here is being very careful," he said. "Everyone must go through a checkpoint, and we must all wear [ID] badges, but that still can't prevent someone from lobbing something [explosive] over the wall at us. The mortar shells have come pretty close to our compound. When that happens, we put on our hard hats and we hit the floor and hope for the best."
A popular cafe in the Green Zone was blown up a few weeks ago, Schnaible said. He said that the zone was being attacked an average of about 100 times a day, but that number is now down to about 70. As Jan. 30 nears, however, officials expect insurgents to step up their attacks. "I will be here through the elections, and we anticipate more violence leading up to that date," said Schnaible, a public affairs officer for about 20 years. "They will try to intimidate the people into not supporting the new government."
He said that being involved in the war is frightening, and that there's no way to "sugar-coat" the loss of American lives and the thousands of injured soldiers. When Schnaible has to leave the Green Zone for the 10-mile ride to Baghdad International Airport, he explained, he travels in an armored Humvee. "What we are doing is real challenging stuff," he said. "It is tough work, but we have to stay the course. People have to realize that what they see on TV is a mere snapshot of what is happening over here. We are making progress despite the actions of the insurgents who want to kill us."
Schnaible agreed that one of the toughest parts of his mission, which should end sometime in February, is being away from his family during the holidays. Before volunteering for his mission in Iraq, Schnaible, a newlywed and the son of a Brooklyn police officer, was assigned to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and left his wife behind. "It is tough being away from family during this time of year," he said. "But I will spend it with my adopted family over here in Iraq, with co-workers, and I will turn to them for support."
Schnaible said he has gotten plenty of moral support from the Five Towns, including 50- and 75-pound care packages from a local chiropractor. One of the packages contained several soccer balls and basketballs, which Schnaible handed out to children in Iraq as a peace offering and an ice-breaker, to help gain their trust.
Schnaible's mother, Barbara, who has lived in Lawrence for the past four years after living in Hewlett for 40 years, said she has a tough time listening to the news reports from Iraq. She said she tries to keep in touch with her son via cell phone as much as possible. "He's doing fine," she said. "He calls me. I call him.
"He downplays things that are going on over there," Barbara said. "I know he doesn't want to worry me. But there's not a day that goes by that I don't worry."
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