I seem to recall that it was considered amusing back in April (or was it March?) when "Baghdad Bob" and a couple of skeptical war correspondents said U.S. troops didn't have control of Baghdad airport yet. Well, apparently they still don't:

"It's been deemed a low-threat environment," said Air Force Lt. Col. Gary Goldstone, commander of the Charleston-based 16th Airlift Squadron, which is flying missions to Iraq. "But, when people are shooting at you, it's a high threat."

Twice Iraqis, using shoulder-fired missiles, have tried to shoot down C-130 transport planes approaching Baghdad International Airport. Both attacks failed; the last was only two weeks ago....

Once the planes are on the ground, the possibility of attack is even stronger.

"This is a kill zone," warns a sign posted at a checkpoint to Camp Sather, a tent city the Air Force has built for about 1,300 airmen who service, load and unload military aircraft at Baghdad International....

The immediate area doesn't seem much safer:

The Air Force's 132-tent Camp Sather lies next to the airport's flight line but inside a larger area that's controlled by the Army. But that doesn't mean airmen can relax, Meserve said.

Security checkpoints, complete with machine-gun nests and concertina wire, are set up at the camp's outskirts.

Inside the camp, airmen must negotiate a checkpoint just to go from the tent compound to administrative offices.

Other protective measures include a 2-foot-high wall of sandbags stacked around the base of tents. If there's an attack, the sandbags will offer some protection to sleeping airmen who roll out of their cots and onto to the floor....

The camp is locked down, meaning no one can leave the facility unless on official business. Also, no alcoholic beverages are allowed....

This story isn't from some wussy newspaper in Peacenik Land. It's from The State, a paper from South Carolina, a state that's very conservative and very military-oriented.