h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: A Comprehensive Guide To The Bars and Pubs Of Iraq - A12944739
Author: rogviletheunwieldy - U1433814

I wrote this entry last year in a fit of boredom in Iraq. I was inspired to revisit it by a second fit of boredom, this time in Birmingham. What do you think? I think DA would have approved, politics aside.

It is entirely factually correct

It needs some formatting work: paragaphs for different parts. You could break it up into things like "appearance" "available services" "things to do" "things not to do" "best drink" or whatever. But it does need to be broken down some.

I agree about the headers. I would tentatively suggest one or two other changes:

-Take out the first person references if you want this to go into the edited guide (which you should!) they're not generally accepted as part of the format

- Put in some kind of introduction. I'm guessing here, but I assume the fact that you have mentioned only two bars in the whole of Iraq has at least something to do with the country being Islamic and alcahol being against Muslim law. It would be worth while mentioning this, because not everyone will know that.

-You need to slightly ammend your reference to 'Liverpool's recent European Cup Victory'. This entry could be here for years and it will not always be recent. In fact, unlikely as it may now seem, Liverpool could even have won the trophy again by the time somebody is reading this entry.

Can't think of anything else that's wrong though- well done!

To create Headers write then your heading

to create subheaders write then your heading

oh and if there are only two of them you don't need to say they are in alphabetical order

Unfortunately the author hasn't responded since he posted this entry. Hopefully, he'll come back, though.

It's also a little US'centric - I'd be amazed if the British Army don't have any NAAFI bars over there.

They probably do, but they'd only serve tea.

He also limits it to within the green zone, or something. should probably explain that.

Oh sorry, been a bit busy of late. See the joke is that there are only two bars in Iraq (alphabetical order being another, semi-joke see). Ironically Alcohol is legal in Iraq but not Kuwait however since American Army units are not allowed to drink when in Iraq under pain of serious punishment its a bit of a catch 22. I worked as a contractor driving trucks on US Army convoys, that’s why the entry might appear a little Americocentric. Although one of the bars is operated by the Italian Army, legend has it that refused to send troop unless they could get their troops a drink, all other coalition nations acquiesced to the American demand for sobriety in order to not demoralise US troops.

I suspect the Green Zone is full of booze, I once heard a advert for a techno disco there on “Freedom Radio” the US Army’s radio station. However I never visited that particular area. The Joke at the time was that apart from the couple of square miles of the “Green Zone” the entire rest of Iraq was the “Red Zone”

Reflecting on the article, it could have been better constructed. I just felt at the time the subject matter was so deliciously close to the Douglas Adams ethos I was compelled to write it. Although I understand that H2g2 is trying to move away from this ideal to being something for akin to Wiki, a great shame imo.

Anyway thanks for the suggestions, I'll try and do a rewrite ASAP.

We don't want to be like wiki! We want to be quirky but informative. But it is not a Douglas Adams fan site, so it can be humorous but should not assume that the reader is familiar with Douglas Adams or his work.

I think your entry would be a great addition to the Guide.

I agree. I got the jokes and like them. I also think you should include some of the info you mentioned in the post - like about the Italian army.

And if it's just the red zone, maybe you should mention that somewhere.

Absolutely. I think this entry definitely deserves a place. I don't think being a Douglas Adams fan or not matters (I cannot believe I just said that!) but surely the dream is to be stuck in some boarding house in Iraq with nothing but a mobile phone and think 'God... I wonder if there's any good bars here?'. And, yes, you should put that stuff about the Italian army in the entry.

What should we do with this?

The author hasn't been on the site in 7 years, and the information is bound to be so out of date that it would be useless, so the entry should be moved out of the Edited Writing Workshop and put back to entry.

Yes, it should.

For what it's worth, I agree.

Saw this conversation from the front page and thought I'll add my two penneth worth. This article needs a champion to polish it off (maybe someone like a swl could be persuaded). This could be under a sub-section entitled "brief history" or "recent history" or "personal history", with the subsection subsumed within a section entitled Iraq or Iraq: Military Occupation & Transitional Government Period. Reading the article briefly it seems like a reminiscence of a serving soldier or related ... so I think it needs an introductory context. Iraq is / was a vast country with several different religions and different "peoples" ... so I am extremely sceptical there were no other bars/pubs/watering holes/ cafes/hotels etc serving alcoholic beverages. Maybe "Iraq" should be replaced by Baghdad ... and some additional context added to ... Maybe something along the lines of "A Guide To The Bars and Pubs Of Baghdad Airport and the Green Zone" ...

I agree it would make a marvellous entry, but Gnomon's point about verifying the up-to-date information stands, and that will be tricky.

Shame you can't get students to fact check etc as a small project.

Very quick checks: That airport hotel ... not currently advertising alcohol
http://ishtar.innpoints.com/location.html
http://ishtar.innpoints.com/restaurants-and-bars.html

The Italian base appeared to be Tallil Airbase not "Tallie base":
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/tallil.htm