Meeting the President
I wrote this entry on Friday after one of the most exciting days that the Cambridge Union Society has seen for quite some time. By 22:00 Thursday night, 30 police and security officers were getting ready to comb the Union’s grounds in preparation for the Head of State Conference the next day. As I walked to the Union at noon on Friday, high atop St. John’s Chapel were snipers – presumably part of the security detail provided by Scotland Yard. At the Union entrance I was met with a sea of neon yellow -- an easily identifiable colour for police and emergency service people here in Europe. After making my way through the metal detectors and security guards (by which, funnily enough, I was able to sneak my Swiss army knife), I joined the fellow VIP guests in the Union Chamber where we prepared to meet and take photographs with the President of Iraq.
Just before President Talabani entered the Union's chamber, a hush fell over the 25 or so special guests and stewards. Followed by his entourage of about 15 staff and personal security guards, Talabani entered the chamber and walked up and down the row of guests shaking hands, taking photographs, and receiving an introduction to each of us from the President of the Union Society. Following our handshake and photograph with President Talabani, we each met the Ambassador to the UK, the President’s National Security Adviser, the President’s Chief of Staff, and various other members of his entourage.
Next, the President, and his advisers joined the chairman of the Union’s board of trustees (former Head of MI-6 and Master of Pembroke College, Sir Richard Dearlove) and a select handful of Union officers (including me) in the Union’s dining room (pictured below).
There, just a seat away from the Ambassador to Iraq (and a few seats away from Talabani) I enjoyed my first Presidential dining experience. The meal purportedly cost £100 a head and as added entertainment featured the President’s easily excitable security personnel on either side of the room who would get visibly nervous every time a young member of the society would walk behind President Talabani to whisper something to the President of the Union Society. In the end I'm still not sure what was more exciting, eating a $50 appetizer or listening to “mam Jalal” (Uncle Jalal) tell jokes about Sadam Hussein.
Before I knew it, lunch was over and it was time for the President’s speech and a subsequent session of Q&A. Union members had waited up to four hours to see the speech, but after the generous standing ovation with which the President was welcomed, it appeared most of the audience felt the wait was worthwhile. The President began by reading a prepared speech about his early political and military life and some of the history of Iraq, especially his native Kurdistan. While the content was interesting, the reading of the speech was rather lackluster. Instead, the highlight came during the Q&A session. For about an hour, with a full table of
microphones in front of him and flashbulbs snapping in chorus, the President entertained a diverse audience's questions on everything from his days of youth working with the KGB to the current situation in Iraq to “anecdotes” from his two years as President.
Finally, before leaving the President called for his staffers to haul in a huge Indiana Jones style crate of treasure. To the Union Society, the President gave a solid silver and gold palm tree and a tablet of the first law ever written – both encased in a glass for protection and public viewing. After the BBC got some footage of the gifts, which can be seen on the video linked at the bottom of this entry, the Union President and Vice President and I hauled the crated gifts outside to a taxi which was to take us to the vaults at Christ's College. Unfortunately, because the crate was too large, we had to find an alternative place to store our new treasure. "I know... why don't we ask Sir Richard," I thought alound. If anybody would know where to find a secure place for our treasurer it would probably be the former head of MI-6. Indeed he did.
When we arrived at Pembroke's Master's Lodge with our huge wooden crate, a lady who was
presumably Sir Richard's wife came outside to ask us what we were doing. It probably didn't help that the Vice President was wearing a top hat, tail coat, and walking around with a cane when we arrived. Suffice it to say, Sir Richard's wife was convinced that this was all part of some prank that we were trying to pull on Sir Richard. Fortunately Sir Richard arrived just as we did and showed us in. The house had just the type of MI-6 standards one would imagine but out of respect for Sir Richard and his wife I should probably leave it at that. In addition to posting these two photos I will also say though, that the brief visit was very cool and was not something I will soon forget.
I have much more to post about the past few months but this will likely be my last entry until 4 June -- the deadline for my dissertation. I hope everyone is well and I look forward to catching up after the 4th!
Link to two BBC videos: http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/
results.pl?tab=av&q=talabani&recipe=all&scope=all&edition=d -- Click on “Iraqi President in Cambridge.” Or try this direct link to one of the videos:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6640000/
newsid_6648700?redirect=6648713.stm&news=1&
nbwm=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&bbram=1
Just before President Talabani entered the Union's chamber, a hush fell over the 25 or so special guests and stewards. Followed by his entourage of about 15 staff and personal security guards, Talabani entered the chamber and walked up and down the row of guests shaking hands, taking photographs, and receiving an introduction to each of us from the President of the Union Society. Following our handshake and photograph with President Talabani, we each met the Ambassador to the UK, the President’s National Security Adviser, the President’s Chief of Staff, and various other members of his entourage.Next, the President, and his advisers joined the chairman of the Union’s board of trustees (former Head of MI-6 and Master of Pembroke College, Sir Richard Dearlove) and a select handful of Union officers (including me) in the Union’s dining room (pictured below).
There, just a seat away from the Ambassador to Iraq (and a few seats away from Talabani) I enjoyed my first Presidential dining experience. The meal purportedly cost £100 a head and as added entertainment featured the President’s easily excitable security personnel on either side of the room who would get visibly nervous every time a young member of the society would walk behind President Talabani to whisper something to the President of the Union Society. In the end I'm still not sure what was more exciting, eating a $50 appetizer or listening to “mam Jalal” (Uncle Jalal) tell jokes about Sadam Hussein.
Before I knew it, lunch was over and it was time for the President’s speech and a subsequent session of Q&A. Union members had waited up to four hours to see the speech, but after the generous standing ovation with which the President was welcomed, it appeared most of the audience felt the wait was worthwhile. The President began by reading a prepared speech about his early political and military life and some of the history of Iraq, especially his native Kurdistan. While the content was interesting, the reading of the speech was rather lackluster. Instead, the highlight came during the Q&A session. For about an hour, with a full table of
microphones in front of him and flashbulbs snapping in chorus, the President entertained a diverse audience's questions on everything from his days of youth working with the KGB to the current situation in Iraq to “anecdotes” from his two years as President.Finally, before leaving the President called for his staffers to haul in a huge Indiana Jones style crate of treasure. To the Union Society, the President gave a solid silver and gold palm tree and a tablet of the first law ever written – both encased in a glass for protection and public viewing. After the BBC got some footage of the gifts, which can be seen on the video linked at the bottom of this entry, the Union President and Vice President and I hauled the crated gifts outside to a taxi which was to take us to the vaults at Christ's College. Unfortunately, because the crate was too large, we had to find an alternative place to store our new treasure. "I know... why don't we ask Sir Richard," I thought alound. If anybody would know where to find a secure place for our treasurer it would probably be the former head of MI-6. Indeed he did.
When we arrived at Pembroke's Master's Lodge with our huge wooden crate, a lady who was
presumably Sir Richard's wife came outside to ask us what we were doing. It probably didn't help that the Vice President was wearing a top hat, tail coat, and walking around with a cane when we arrived. Suffice it to say, Sir Richard's wife was convinced that this was all part of some prank that we were trying to pull on Sir Richard. Fortunately Sir Richard arrived just as we did and showed us in. The house had just the type of MI-6 standards one would imagine but out of respect for Sir Richard and his wife I should probably leave it at that. In addition to posting these two photos I will also say though, that the brief visit was very cool and was not something I will soon forget.
I have much more to post about the past few months but this will likely be my last entry until 4 June -- the deadline for my dissertation. I hope everyone is well and I look forward to catching up after the 4th!
Link to two BBC videos: http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/
results.pl?tab=av&q=talabani&recipe=all&scope=all&edition=d -- Click on “Iraqi President in Cambridge.” Or try this direct link to one of the videos:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6640000/
newsid_6648700?redirect=6648713.stm&news=1&
nbwm=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&bbram=1
posted by Tristan Brown | 10:25 AM
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