Author’s note: A brief article on the start of the Iraq invasion
Confused tourist officials in Baghdad confirmed they were “unutterably bewildered” by the mysterious drop in tourists visiting Iraq over the last few days.
“This is usually the peak season for us. We were expecting to be absolutely overwhelmed with tourists this year,” explained Mustapha Maroud, chief Tourism Minister. “The season started well, what with the United Nations tours. There wasn’t a coach, taxi or armoured car to be had anywhere. And those guys were insatiable – you just had to mention a tourist attraction and they wanted to see it. Palaces, military installations, chemical dumps – they were all over the place. And then suddenly they were off, without so much as a goodbye. Of course we’ve still got those peace protestors, mooching around, waving placards and chaining themselves to embassy railings. But they’re all bloody students and they haven’t got any money to spend. We’ve launched a media blitz in the US and we’d been promised that we’d be overrun with Americans pretty soon. But they just haven’t appeared yet. Still it’ll be boom time when they do get here!”
Sex and Drugs and Growing Old 