GREEN ZONE, Baghdad -- There were cars zipping down a freeway, rows of satellite dishes on apartments, and some new construction of what looked like government buildings.

From the vantage point of a Black Hawk helicopter skimming over the most dangerous city in the world, I was struck by how Baghdad almost looked like a normal third world city.

Staff Sgt. John Gilbert of the 166th Support Group looks out at Sadaam Hussein's man-made lake and former palaces in southeast Baghdad as he flies to the Green Zone on a Blackhawk helicopter on Thursday morning. Photo: Tony Overman/The Olympian

But there were bombed out buildings in the shimmering heat. And Tony thought he spotted green tracers of something flying past our Blackhawk. We later found out the helicopters automatically fire the flares when they get low to the ground to confuse heat seeking missiles. Iraq, I’m beginning to understand, is a mix of the routine and the horrific.

We were on our way from Camp Victory to the Green Zone, where we have been stuck for several hours getting our press credentials. Both places are highly fortified and reasonably safe. But you have to fly over the “Red Zone” which is basically the rest of Baghdad, in order to get between them.

Tony and I met some soldiers yesterday from the former Soviet republic of Georgia. They are part of the “Coalition of the Willing” in Iraq. Anyway, one of these guys, Otari Saneblidze, asked if we were planning on going into the Red Zone.

We told him we were, as embeds with Stryker soldiers from Fort Lewis. He asked if we were scared. Yeah, I’m scared. This is Baghdad for Christ sakes. I think a little fear is healthy here.

Paranoia, people keep telling me, will keep you alive.