Welcome to Authorized Departure, a series of letters from a U.S. foreign service officer's experiences in Iraq, from 2004-2010. These time capsules capture the evolution of U.S. involvement in Iraq, everyday life, and the transformation of a society - a transformation whose outcome remains uncertain. In these pages, the embers of the brutal Islamic State already stir. But alongside them, flashes of hope, humor, life, death, and humanity - often all in the same day.

Authorized Departure is at once a Department of State term for the initial evacuation or drawdown status an Embassy or Consulate goes to in consultation with Washington when things start to get dangerous. But it is also the practice of sharing Foreign Service stories across social and traditional media, a Departure from backroom diplomatic discussions between elites towards a dialogue among and within populations. Finally, the immersion in foreign countries on behalf of our own is itself a Departure that is both physical and psychological.