who is phil?

who is phil?
when i was in iraq, there was this guy named "phil", whom we soldiers had come to know and value. phil was the type of guy that in america we'd call a hustler. not that he was one to hustle you for your your money, but he definitelty hustled for the money.when we soldiers first got to iraq, we couldn't go out and openly barter for the things that we could acquire freely in the united states. Soldiers were desperate to get there hands on the three (4) things that kill most americans, tobacco, soft drinks, and fast food (phil never sold alcohol as far as i know). anyhow, phil had the hook-up and a desire to earn some money from us americans, controversial as it may seem. to understand phil, one needs to understand the climate of the region to which we were intertwined. before the iraqi invasion, phil was already a businessman; he owned a ice cream shoppe/ sandwich shoppe. after the coalition led, invasion of iraq, the value of the iraqi money had diminished to be virtually worthless. there was stable american money to be earned from american soldiers, however. to possess american currency, as an iraqi business man is at conflict. one one hand, to take money from an american soldier is to side with the enemy in the eyes of anti coalition forces, which are seemingly ubiquitous in iraq. on the other hand, to not take the money would be to not put food in the mouths of your children.nonetheless, we american soldiers always parted with are hard earned money at "phils". Some american soldiers disliked phil's operation since he was the ethnicity of the combatant forces that we faced on a daily basis. rumors about phil's allegience and security ran ranpant. it was even rumored that the money that we spent at phil's was used to buy the very weapons that were used against us.

phil was a flexible merchant. he was the type of guy who you could be like, i need "a case of cigars" and he would tell you how much it would cost and he would deliver. his restaurant consisted mainly of a grill, a spit, a table a refrigerator,and a cash register. there also was a bodega where cases of soda, tobacco, bootleg dvds, and foriegn chocolate could be acessesed. phil would takt the money that we traded for products and travel to the metropolis where he reupped. lets, just say this: phil sold case's of soda for 10 dollars, he paid about a dollar for them. he was iraqi rich!!! with material wealth comes jealousy. needless to say, phil remained strapped when not dealing with soldiers. when you carry as much money as phil had, someone is bound to want to take it away.

get you a schwarma
i always went to phil's to get a sandwich. we soldiers soon grow tired over the available rations that we receive and yearn for the comforts of home, such as the ability to choose what we have for lunch. there was a sandwich that attracted me to go to phil's bodega specifically. that sanwhich was defined as the schwarma. there are very different ways to get a schwarma. phil served his on a long torpedo roll. the filling was one of either spit rosted beef ,chicken or lamb. ip referred to spit roasted lamb, but rumors circulating, speculating the origin of said lamb prompted phil to stop serving the lamb. i then chose chicken out of default. the chicken breasts were piled high on a spit and slow roasted with an onion topping the meat for flavor. the chicken of the region is definitely more gamey and not atypical of poultry found in the United States.
why free trade is good.
a schwarma recipe cane be fund here.

why do i mention this?
well, phil is dead.
phil was murdered while resupplying his shoppe.
his family was kidnapped.
his son was killed as well.
they were killed because they believed in some of the things that americans take for granted everyday.
things such as:
free market economy
democracy
freedom of choice
fast food.

in my eyes phil was more revolutionary than ray kroc, the founder of mcdonalds.
a big mac never made me feel as free as eating a schwarma.